The NBA Western Conference semifinals have gotten off to a rocky start for the Golden State Warriors, and if there’s one person who’ll express their frustrations, it’s Draymond Green.
The NBA champ was speaking to the media after the 117-93 Game 2 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves when he was visibly upset with the technical foul magnet label he’s been given… without revealing who gave it to him.
“I’m not an angry Black man, and I’m tired of the agenda to make me look like an angry Black man. I’m a very successful, educated Black man with a great family, and I’m great at basketball and great at what I do,” Green told reporters in the locker room. “The agenda to keep trying to make me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”
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Green was heated in the locker room because of a foul he committed with about 9 minutes left in the second quarter. Naz Reid was defending him and popped the ball out from behind, so Green dramatized the foul with a flailing elbow that hit Reid in the face. Reid falls to the ground, and chief referee Tony Brothers immediately signals he’d review the play, which he eventually ruled a technical foul.
Being down 16 points while catching a foul set Green off, and he began yelling and cursing in the referees’ faces as he walked to center court. Even Steph Curry walked over to the scorer’s table to calm him down, as did assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse. Eventually, head coach Steve Kerr pulled him out of the game until he calmed down. He returned later in the quarter and finished the game with nine points, five assists, and four rebounds.His actions after the ruling could have led to an ejection, but the technical is pretty damaging alone because it’s his fifth flagrant foul, so he only needs two more —or a tech— to receive a one-game suspension.Barely into the second round, Green already has two flagrant-1 fouls in the playoffs, and with two more of those or one flagrant-2, he’ll be benched for a game, too. With Curry out for a week because of a strained hamstring, the last thing the Warriors need is a Green suspension, so coach Kerr said he’ll have to chill out and regulate his emotions. “He’s gonna have to be careful now. He’s gonna have to stay composed, and I’m confident that he will because he knows the circumstances,” Kerr said. “The competition is so meaningful to him that occasionally, he goes over the line.”See how social media is reacting to Green’s interaction with the media below.
