Draymond Green was ejected for the second time in about three weeks in the Golden State Warriors‘ 123-114 win over the Utah Jazz at Chase Center on Saturday. Green was tossed after being assessed with two technicals in quick succession in the second quarter, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked postgame if he’s concerned by the ejections.
“Yeah, I mean, we need Draymond, and I want him out there,” Kerr said. “I think he might be up to about nine techs… We’re not halfway through the season yet, so long way to go and we need him.”
Green is indeed up to nine technical fouls for the season. Players are slapped with a one-game suspension when they get to 16, and the 36-year-old is well on pace to reach that mark.
Green got in trouble here for continuing to argue with the officials. The four-time All-Star wanted official Simone Jelks to call a three-second violation on Kyle Filipowski, but she didn’t. Green yelled at Jelks after the play, and she gave him his first tech. He then said something to official Kevin Cutler, who immediately gave him another technical.
Draymond got two techs and was ejected in this sequence 😳 pic.twitter.com/J4PeJXNNIP
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 4, 2026
Stephen Curry was also asked about the ejection in his postgame press conference, and he made it clear that the players didn’t think it was fair.
“I know he’d rather be out there,” Curry said. “I don’t know what he said to the ref… the consensus in the locker room was it wasn’t enough to get thrown out.”
There has been this notion that Green, who had eight points (3-4 FG), three rebounds, two assists, and one block against the Jazz, always gets away with complaining to officials while other players don’t. That hasn’t been the case recently.
Green’s first ejection of the season came against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 20, 2025. He was given his first technical for shoving Suns guard Collin Gillespie and got the second one right after for arguing with official Pat Fraher about the call.
The Warriors were down 46-37 against the Suns when Green was tossed. You thought that game might get away from them, but they ended up winning 119-116.
Here against the Jazz, the Warriors trailed 58-48 when Green got himself ejected. They managed to turn things around without him again and won fairly comfortably. These aren’t the only two occasions, either, where we’ve seen this happen.
The Warriors took on the Orlando Magic on Dec. 22 after that Suns game, and Green took himself out by heading to the locker room after an argument with Kerr in the third quarter. He returned to the bench before the start of the fourth, but his coach didn’t put him back in the game.
The Warriors were trailing 71-66 when Green chose to head out, and they’d go on to win 120-97. Questions are now being asked if they are actually better without him.
Plus-minus is not a perfect stat by any means, but Green has been a positive in just two games since the start of December. The Warriors have just not done well with him on the court lately. If this trend continues, they might have to make a difficult decision.
We’ll see Green in action next when the Warriors take on the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Monday at 10 PM ET.
