Draymond Green is an incredibly intelligent basketball player. He has been lauded for his IQ by many of the greats in the game and it has allowed him to become an invaluable piece to the championship dynasty of the Golden State Warriors. While he doesn’t have the best scoring skills, Green is an incredibly astute player in terms of how he creates for his teammates and sets their defense up.
However, IQ can refer to more than just his contribution on the floor as a basketball player. Green knows exactly the buttons he needs to push with the officials to keep himself protected from their calls. After horrible experiences with officials in the past, it seems Draymond has figured them out.
Nick Wright pointed out that Draymond has been getting early technical fouls in games and then acts as he wants because the referees can’t justify ejecting him for micro-aggressions like yelling or asking for calls, as it requires them to give out a second technical foul, reserved for more serious offenses.
All playoffs long Draymond has been paying this 1 free throw tax to get a technical early and then just have carte blanche to act however he wants the rest of the game. I've been talking about it for weeks, but until the refs change how they officiate him, it's very smart by him.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) June 6, 2022
Green used this method really well against the Dallas Mavericks as well, getting the referees to not make big calls on him after receiving a technical foul earlier in the game. The refs can’t win in this situation, as it either requires them to hold their whistle or eject Draymond from high-stakes Finals games for arguing.
The 2015 Defensive Player of the Year deserves credit for having manipulated the game in his favor like this, even if it is annoying for fans to watch him play like this.
The Warriors are headed for a dominant Game 2 win, with Draymond still on the floor. While his contribution has come under the microscope for being lackluster, he did manage to not get ejected and had a historic night with his assists.
