Draymond Green is arguably one of the top defenders in the league. He is Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson‘s teammate and the heart of the Golden State Warriors, especially on defense. Draymond, along with several other players has had an issue with the way the game is being officiated.
The Golden State Warriors faced the Memphis Grizzlies for game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals. However, Draymond was ejected from this pivotal game. Here’s more on what happened and the reactions
Draymond Green may have injured Brandon Clarke
Draymond and the Warriors were trailing by a single point when the incident occurred. There were less than 2 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Brandon Clarke received the ball and went up for a shot. However, Draymond Green chose to hard foul him. He did so by hitting him in the face with his hands in a half-hearted attempt to stop the shot.
To make matters worse, Draymond hit him when he was airborne. Additionally, he grabbed onto his jersey in an attempt to supposedly hold Clarke up as he fell. However, holding Clarke’s jersey did not brace his fall in the slightest as he crashed to the floor.
The NBA Officials decided that these motions of hitting him in the face and holding onto the jersey warrant a flagrant 2 foul. Therefore, they ejected Draymond Green from the second half of the game. He was in absolute disbelief regarding the consequences of his actions. However, the Golden State Warriors managed to win without Draymond for the second half.
Here’s what the other NBA Players had to say
The Golden State Warriors managed to win game 1 on the road, even without Draymond. However, they clearly felt along with others that officiating is impacting the game beyond reason. One could argue that any foul could simply be dealt with by avoiding as many free throws. However, ejecting a player with a flagrant 2 fouls would have repercussions in a playoff series.
We gotta have better context with these rules man.
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) May 1, 2022
Several NBA players also voiced their opinion regarding the issue. all seemed to side with Green.
Flagrant 2???
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) May 1, 2022
It is clear that they believe that the power of officiating controls the sport. Trae Young says it best with his tweet “Cant officiate the PLAYER, officiate the PLAY”.
Can’t officiate the PLAYER officiate the PLAY
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 1, 2022
Draymond Green has a history of losing his cool and compromising his ability to play for the team through his behavior. He will need to control himself if he wishes to remain on the court as a defensive anchor for the Warriors.
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