Draymond Green is going to pay a fine for this.
Not for the foul itself that got Green ejected from Game 1 against the Grizzlies — it’s questionable at best that it should have been a Flagrant 2 — but for his reaction running around the court at the Fed Ex Forum to fire up the fans before he went to the locker room.
Here is the foul that led to Green’s ejection.
Draymond was given a Flagrant 2 foul and has been ejected from Game 1pic.twitter.com/ghZo3PShLT
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 1, 2022
It’s clearly a foul, maybe even a Flagrant 1 for being excessive. Maybe. But that was not worthy of a regular season ejection, let alone a second-round playoff game ejection. Trae Young was a host of payers echoed that sentiment.
Can’t officiate the PLAYER officiate the PLAY
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 1, 2022
After the game, crew chief Kane Fitzgerald explained what he saw in giving a Flagrant 2 and an ejection, speaking to a pool reporter.
“Well, there’s a couple things. The first part was the wind-up and significant contact to the face, and then the pull down from the jersey grab and throw down to the floor to an airborne vulnerable player makes that unnecessary and excessive. That’s what led to the flagrant foul penalty two.”
That’s the ejection, but this is what Green will pay the league for.
Crowd chanting “throw him out” then Draymond Green gets ejected. His reaction: pic.twitter.com/gl1k6XKx4e
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) May 1, 2022
The Warriors and Grizzlies were in a close game heading to the fourth quarter.
