A ‘confused’ Draymond Green sounds off on Game 1 ejection: ‘I’m never
going to stop being Draymond Green’
Draymond Green recorded an emergency episode of his podcast to respond
to his ejection in Sunday's Game 1 win at Memphis
>MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – MAY 1: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23)
talks to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr just before being
ejected after fouling Memphis Grizzlies’ Brandon Clarke (15) in the
second quarter of Game 1 of the team’s NBA basketball second-round
playoff series at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, May 1,
2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
>MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – MAY 1: Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23)
talks to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr just before being
ejected after fouling Memphis Grizzlies’ Brandon Clarke (15) in the
second quarter of Game 1 of the team’s NBA basketball second-round
playoff series at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, May 1,
2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2022 at 5:52 p.m. | UPDATED: May 2, 2022 at 9:42 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/01/a-confused-draymond-green-sounds-off-on-game-1-ejection-im-never-going-to-stop-being-draymond-green/

He didn’t speak to the assembled media after he was ejected in the first
half on Sunday, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Draymond Green has
a lot of thoughts on the matter — and felt the urge to get those
thoughts out quickly.

Green recorded an emergency podcast of his Draymond Green Show from his
hotel room shortly after the Warriors’ 117-116 win over the Grizzlies in
Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

The nearly 14-minute-long podcast episode was in response to his
ejection for a flagrant two foul of Memphis’ Brandon Clarke, where the
officials ruled Green made “significant contact” to Clarke’s face and
then made an attempt to throw Clarke to the ground, which was deemed
“unnecessary and excessive.”

“I got ejected for…I’m not sure what. But for a foul. Very interesting
one,” Green said on his podcast, adding that he was trying to hold
Clarke up. “At this point I expect things like that. I’ve been suspended
from Game 5 of the NBA Finals. You think, for one second, I wouldn’t get
kicked out of the second round in Game 1? Doesn’t surprise me at all.
Not one bit.”

Green said he was about to start dancing to the Memphis crowd’s chant
of, “Kick him out!” but he elected not to because he was involved in the
play and he should “expect the unexpected.”

“I’m dumb enough to think I wouldn’t get a Flagrant 1,” Green said.
“Talk about an idiot. You want to call anyone an idiot, look no further
than Draymond Green himself.”

Green said he is “looking forward” to his Flagrant 2 foul being
rescinded entirely or downgraded to a Flagrant 1 by the NBA, and
mentioned the point accumulation system for flagrant fouls was the cause
of his suspension from Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

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Green said he believes he was given the Flagrant 2 foul because of his
“reputation,” but that is something he said he is actually proud of.

“Reputations are earned. I love my reputation. It has gotten me where I
am,” Green said. “It’s gotten me three NBA championships, it’s gotten me
the Defensive Player of the Year Award, it’s gotten me four All Stars
(games). It has made me who I am in the NBA, coming from a 35th pick who
they said would never play a day in NBA.

“Here I am in year 10, still sitting here in front of you, still
playing. You watch me on your TV screen in your living room, you come to
games, you watch. So I appreciate my reputation. I’m not one to shy away
from it. I know what it is and that reputation is hard to earn.”

Green drew a comparison to the Chicago Bulls dynasty teams. Green said
he saw Dennis Rodman get ejected for fouls that Luc Longley would not
get ejected for. It’s part of the reputation players like Rodman and
Green have earned.

“But guess what? To me, that’s a badge of honor,” Green said. “I earned
my reputation. I appreciate my reputation. I’m never going to shy away
from it.

“And most importantly, I am never going to stop being Draymond Green.”

--
Alex Simon