The NBA will review a flagrant foul on Warriors’ Green day after game

A blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night turned sour late for the Golden State Warriors. Steve Kerr picked up a late technical foul and Draymond Green was sent off late in the fourth quarter with the game already decided. On Saturday the victory became even more expensive for Green.

The Grizzlies were rightfully upset when Green grabbed Edey’s leg to prevent him from running down the court in transition after Green turned the ball over and fell. Coach Taylor Jenkins complained about Green’s dirty play after the game, referencing 2022 playoff contender Steve Kerr’s complaint that Dillon Brooks “broke the code” after the foul that broke Gary Payton II’s elbow.

It also resembles a play from the 2023 playoffs, when Domantas Sabonis grabbed Green’s legs in a similar fast break situation. Sabonis was also flagged for that play, but Green was not satisfied. He stomped on Sabonis’ chest, was sent off and then suspended for the next game.

There’s just something about playing Memphis that gets Green going, although this play, while dangerous, felt more like frustration on a turnover than a massive act of violence. But if the man you’re tripping is over seven feet tall, that’s potentially a very reckless play, and deserved the blatant backdating (Green was called for a take-foul at the time).

What was stranger was how Kerr and Green both lost it late in the match. In the final two minutes, Green was called a technical foul as he complained about a foul call on Moses Moody. In all fairness to Draymond, that call sucked.

When the Warriors led 120-108 with 1:14 to go, Kerr let his frustration over what he called a “disgusting last quarter and a half” in which the game turned into “a parade to the free-throw line” turn into a technical foul, a foul he received after an incorrect decision on the Grizzlies. Although he was probably still unhappy with the first technology on Green.

Not to be left out, Draymond Green managed to pick up his second technical foul and be sent off the bench after being subbed out.

Shout out to the woman sitting next to the court who shouted, “You guys are horrible!” among civil servants. Coach Kerr apologizes for using foul language in your presence.

The match was out of reach, but you never know when the two points lost to technical free throws (Desmond Bane missed one of the three) could come back to haunt them in the Emirates Cup. Point differential is the deciding factor in the NBA’s regular season tournament, and it would be better for the Dubs if they were 2-0 with a differential of +10, instead of their current +8.

The added flagrant foul will rack up Green’s league bill of at least $6,000 for Friday’s game. A flagrant player is typically fined a minimum of $2,000, as well as the fine for each of a player’s first five technical fouls of the season. Green is now at four for the 2024-25 season, tied with Jayson Tatum for the league lead. He ranks 154 for his career, just two behind Carmelo Anthony for 15th in NBA history (Green passed Shaq with his opening night technical).

On Friday, it will be difficult for Green to fulfill his own prediction that he would finish the season with fewer than 10 technical fouls. It was an encouraging night for the Warriors and their ability to win big games. It was a disheartening evening for Green’s anger management.