If you know Draymond Green, you know he has a history of getting ejected from basketball games.
His most famous ejection came in 2016 when he was given a flagrant 2 foul that also got him suspended for the next game.
In this case, Dray won’t get suspended from any games. He got a flagrant 2 in the second quarter and was forced to leave the court for that particular match. He’ll be back for Game 2. Still, there are some who question if he should have even gotten a flagrant foul at all.
Draymond Green was hit with a flagrant 2 foul and ejected after this foul on Brandon Clarke.
Good or bad ejection call? 🤔pic.twitter.com/lDKM9ST0Y8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 1, 2022
On Twitter, James Worthy joked that the “foul” would have been nothing more than two free throws back in his day.
“Man, things have changed. Back in the day, the foul that Green committed would have been 2 free throws only.”
NBA legend James Worthy on Draymond’s ejection:
“Man, things have changed. Back in the day, the foul that [Green] committed would have been 2 free throws ONLY.”
(via @JamesWorthy42) pic.twitter.com/fMKmDwdGbJ
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 2, 2022
To Draymond, the ejection in Game 1 is more about his reputation than anything. According to the 3x Champion, his playstyle and history of incidents are what pushed the refs to make that call.
“And so I sat there. And then the official turned. He had a hard time telling [us what happened]. He said ‘There’s going to be a Flagrant…’ and like, a long pause ‘Two.’ He didn’t even want to say it was going to be a Flagrant 2 which was very interesting to me because, again, I am dumb enough to think that it would not even be a Flagrant 1, that the playoffs are a little tougher and not as soft as the regular season, that you can bump a little and get away with a little more, but we’ve seen questionable calls in the first round, things that didn’t get reviewed. 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.”
It’s a controversial and highly debatable call, to say the least. in James Worthy’s day, it probably wouldn’t have been given a second look.
In today’s game, however, any contact above the shoulders risks a flagrant call. And when Draymond is involved, it only increases the likelihood of an ejection.
Since the Warriors won Game 1, it wasn’t a huge deal. But the Dubs can scarcely afford to let it happen again without suffering some potentially serious consequences.
