Warriors’ Draymond Green: Flagrant-2 Ejection vs. Grizzlies Was a ‘Reputation Thing’

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Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green didn’t waste time addressing his ejection from his team’s 117-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Sunday.

The four-time All-Star was assessed a flagrant-2 foul in the second quarter for what the officials deemed to be “unnecessary and excessive” contact on Brandon Clarke.

In an emergency episode of his podcast, Green thought his reputation preceded him in terms of the final ruling.

“We’ve seen questionable calls in the first round, some things that didn’t get reviewed,” he says at the 5:18 mark. “Sometimes I guess it’s just a case-by-case thing. It’s a reputation thing. I think tonight was probably a reputation thing more so than a hard foul.”

After the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters he was “surprised” with the final ruling upon a video review. Green explained he was similarly flummoxed in the moment but that he should’ve planned for the worst.

“I’m actually dumb enough to think I wasn’t gonna get a flagrant-1. Talk about an idiot. You want to call anybody a idiot, look no further than Draymond Green himself,” he said. “… I was about to start dancing to the crowd saying ‘Kick him out! Kick him out!’ to taunt them because it’s like, ‘Kick him out for that!?’ so I was about to start dancing. When I was literally starting to edge up off the scorer’s table, something said to me, ‘But it’s you involved in this play, Draymond. Because it’s you involved in this play you probably shouldn’t dance because you probably should always expect the unexpected.'”

Green went on to say that NBA players typically earn whatever reputations they have and that “I love my reputation” before citing his achievements in the Association.

The 32-year-old said he recalled growing up and watching legends such as Rasheed Wallace and Dennis Rodman get whistled for fouls that might have been called differently with other players because of their on-court reputations. He said it’s a “badge of honor” in a way to be treated as Wallace and Rodman were.

Green added he’s hopeful the call is eventually reduced to at least a flagrant-1 foul so as to avoid collecting two foul points. During the 2016 NBA Finals, he was suspended one game for accumulating four flagrant foul points, and that suspension proved costly for the Warriors.

Golden State’s win will help to cool the anger and frustration that would’ve inevitably grown if the team had lost following Green’s ejection. The ordeal might be little more than a footnote in the Warriors’ playoff run.