Draymond Green is among America’s most polarizing professional athletes, feeling targeted by NBA officials and surely is high on the list of players crudely heckled by fans.
Both factors likely contributed to his brief, pointed postgame statements Thursday night at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the Warriors took a 117-93 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
After being assessed with a technical foul in the second quarter and getting harassed by fans in the arena, Green demonstratively expressed his feelings to reporters in the locker room.
“I’m not an angry Black man,” he said. “I’m a very successful, educated Black man, with a great family. And I’m great at basketball. Great at what I do. The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”
This is the outburst of a man who feels persecuted by officials – and for years has been disparaged by fans when the Warriors are on the road. Who will ever forget the wretched treatment he received in Boston during the 2022 NBA Finals?
Yet there is an undercurrent of belief around the league that Green’s history of fines and suspensions has resulted in different and less lenient rules for him than his fellow players. Some believe it – Draymond obviously does – but others do not.
After officials’ crew chief Tony Brothers assessed, upon review, a technical foul on Green for a flailing left arm that landed on the face of Minnesota’s Naz Reid with 8:46 left in the second quarter, Green’s furious reaction prompted Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and coach Steve Kerr to take turns interceding.
Kerr ultimately opted to put Green on the bench for the next six minutes in hopes he would cool off. There were no more flare-ups for the remainder of the game, but Draymond’s postgame statement is proof that he still was simmering.
This was Green’s fifth technical foul in nine postseason games. A one-game suspension hits after a player reaches seven. He also has two flagrant fouls on his ledger, and four of those also warrant suspension.
It’s apparent that Green was upset by something that occurred during the game. Maybe some things.
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