Draymond Green, who has been suspended twice this season by the NBA for on-court physical altercations, has expressed frustration at the officiating after Austin Reaves was not called for an offensive foul when he allegedly elbowed Green in the mouth during Monday's Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers game.
Early in the third quarter, Reaves drove to the basket and was met by Green, who contested the shot at the rim. As he laid the ball up, Reaves' left elbow seemed to make contact with the face of Green, who fell to the ground grabbing his mouth. No call was made by an official, so Green argued with the nearest referee about it.
After the game, Green explained his frustration with what he thinks is a double standard with officiating.
“Steph was standing there, which was great because he heard how the referee talked to me and he went immediately from talking to me to like, ‘Yo, you can't talk to him like that,'” Green said. “And I think that's the wackest part about it; you can say and speak to me however you feel, but if I say something back, it's a tech. That's wack to me. You miss a call, [a] guy clubs me across the face and then you like, ‘I don't want to talk to you! Get out of my face!' It's like, ‘Who are you?' You don't just get to not talk. You missed a call. You can't get mad because you missed a call. So it's a little crazy, but I appreciate the guys being there 'cause it's a bit frustrating.
“Austin [Reaves] gashed his elbow, hit me in the teeth, and it's no foul. I get hit in the face every single game, and I get no foul call. I hit somebody in the face, I get thrown under the jail. But when I get hit in the face, we don't see it. I get hit in the face every single night. I'm not sure one time it's been called. But I f—ing blow my breath on somebody and we're reviewing it for a flagrant foul. I don't get it, it's crazy to me.”
"It's a bit frustrating like Austin [Reaves] gashed his elbow, hit me in the teeth and it's no foul. I get hit in the face every single game and I get no foul call. I hit somebody in the face, I get thrown under the jail."
– Draymond Greenpic.twitter.com/azH1DDI8vH https://t.co/T4M7xotHDt
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 10, 2024
Draymond Green's suspensions
Draymond Green's run-ins with officials and the general law and order of the NBA is well-documented at this point. In addition to the numerous technicals and flagrant fouls he has been whistled for throughout his career, Green's exploits earlier this season prompted two separate multiple-game suspensions by the league office.
The first came on November 14 when he choked Rudy Gobert after Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels initiated a scuffle with one another. The chokehold guaranteed Green would be ejected for the second consecutive game, and he was shortly thereafter suspended for five games by the NBA for “escalating an on-court altercation.”
Green returned from suspension on November 28, but on December 12, Green landed in hot water again. Against the Phoenix Suns, Green turned and struck Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the head, earning another ejection and suspension. Instead of assessing him with a specific suspension, the league sidelined Green indefinitely. The suspension would end up being 12 games and he missed four additional games, putting him out of game action for more than a month total.
While Green has mostly been on his best behavior since returning in mid-January, Green did earn an ejection less than four minutes into the Warriors' game against the Orlando Magic on March 27. Green's dismissal provoked a visibly emotional reaction by Curry.
Despite some of the dramatic twists and turns, the Warriors, who at one point seemed to be letting a Play-In spot slip away to the Houston Rockets, have won eight of their last nine to clinch at least the 10th seed. If seeding holds as it is now, the Warriors would play Reaves, LeBron James, and the Lakers again in a win-or-go-home Play-In game.
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