Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has to be careful from now on, coach Steve Kerr warned.
Green moved two technical fouls shy of a one-game suspension after receiving his fifth during their 117-93 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 on Thursday that evened up their Western Conference semifinals series.
The Warriors could not afford to lose Green, their defensive anchor, at this juncture of the season, especially with Stephen Curry already out for at least a week due to a hamstring injury.
“I could see he had gotten pretty upset, and I didn’t want him getting another technical, so I took him out at that point,” Kerr told reporters after the loss. “He’s going to have to be careful now.
“He’s going to have to stay composed. Obviously, we need him, and I’m confident he will because he knows the circumstances.”
Draymond Green’s Bad Habit
Green earned his fifth technical foul of the playoffs after he hit Naz Reid in the face after the Timberwolves forward fouled him.
Kerr explained that Green has this habit of over acting to sell a call to the referees. But in this case it backfired and came back to bite him. It also did not help that he already has the reputation of being a “dirty” player.
“It’s just a habit he has when somebody fouls him,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s smart. I think it was Reid who reached, and on the reach, Draymond kind of swiped and drew the foul.
“But he does have a habit of flailing his arm to try to make sure the ref sees it. He made contact and that’s what led to the [technical foul].”
With the Good Comes the Bad
As much as Green is a great asset to the Warriors because of his elite defense, his penchant for troubles and emotional outbursts has also put them in tough spot various times in the past. This time is no different with the Warriors facing tall odds without Curry.
Kerr has no choice but to accept the bad with the good of having Green, a pillar of their four championship runs.
“That’s part of Draymond,” Kerr said. “[The] same thing that makes him such a great competitor and a winner puts him over the top sometimes.
“We know that, and it’s our job to help him stay poised [and] stay composed, but the competition is so meaningful to him that sometimes he goes over the line.”
Getty Stephen Curry talks to Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors after Green was assessed a technical foul against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second quarter of Game Two of the Western Conference Second Round NBA Playoffs.
Curry jumped out of his seat on the bench and tried to calm Green down. Kerr had to subbed him out to keep him from getting another technical foul as he animatedly protested to the refs.
Green unloaded after the game.
“I’m not an angry Black man,” Green said, via The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
“I’m a very successful, educated Black man with a great family. And I’m great at basketball, I’m great at what I do. The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.”
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