Draymond, Chuck go back and forth about controversial ejection

Share

Draymond Green doesn’t believe he deserved to get ejected from Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals vs. the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. 

Neither do his teammates, his coach Steve Kerr nor many NBA fans on social media

But Charles Barkley and the rest of the Inside the NBA crew wanted to dig deeper into the logistics of the controversial ejection. 

“You actually committed two Flagrant 1 fouls,” Barkley said on Monday. 

“How? Where’s the first Flagrant 1?” Green responded. 

“When you hit him in the face!” Barkley said. 

“Well then tell them to give me two Flagrant 1s, because it wasn’t a Flagrant 2.” 

Green was originally whistled for a foul on Grizzlies big man Brandon Clarke late in the second quarter when Green got a hold of Clarke’s jersey and Clarke fell to the ground. 

The officials reviewed the play for a possible flagrant foul and ultimately decided to assess a Flagrant 2 foul to Green, resulting in immediate ejection from the game. 

Barkley decided to take things further with a visual of the play to help his reasoning. He called out both of the “Flagrant 1s” in a slow-motion video version of the play. 

“You ain’t pulling his jersey?” Barkley asked. 

“I’m flying away from him, Chuck,” Green replied. “So naturally, he’s going to come that way. But pulling his jersey, I’m a pretty strong dude, so pulling his jersey he’s going to come with me.” 

Head referee Kane Fitzgerald explained in a pool report why Green was given a Flagrant 2. 

"The first part was the wind-up and significant contact to the face, and then the pull down from the jersey grab and throw down to the floor to an airborne vulnerable player makes that unnecessary and excessive. That’s what led to the flagrant foul penalty two," Fitzgerald said.

Kenny Smith had a lingering question regarding the whole situation. 

“Why didn’t you let go?” Smith asked Green. 

“Because then he’s going to fall on his face and they’re going to say that I tried to do it if I let him go,” Green responded.

True. And given Green’s reputation in the league, it was likely going to be a lose-lose scenario for the forward. 

Before his departure from the game, Green made quite the exit as he jumped and ran around the court while the crowd at FedExForum grew loud. 

The Warriors ended up winning the game in a 117-116 nail-biter. Although he couldn’t physically be on the court with his teammates, he didn’t lose hope that they could pull out the win. 

RELATED: Draymond rightfully won't change after questionable ejection

“I had full confidence that we could win the game,” Green said. “But I also didn't say I let my team down because I didn't think I let my team down. I think letting my team down is giving up layups. Now, I've done some egregious things in my career, and I'm very honest about when I do. 

“I didn’t expect to get ejected there, so I wasn’t going to put myself in a place where I'm like, ‘Oh, I feel bad,’ because I didn't think I deserved an ejection. And no one else in the locker room thought so, and they’re honest. They’ll tell me like, ‘Dray that was terrible, that was this, that was that.’ Everybody disagreed.” 

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Contact Us