Draymond Green on his ejection after a flagrant foul: 'It's a reputation thing' / News - Basketnews.com

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Draymond Green was ejected with roughly one minute left in the second quarter in Game 1 of the second-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.

Player of the Game EFF 35 Jordan Poole Points 31 Accuracy 12-20 Rebounds 8 Assists 9

The Golden State Warriors defensive star attempted to defend a lay-up from Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, and in the process, hit his opponent in the face, grabbing his jersey and pulling him to the ground.

Initially ruled a flagrant foul, it was upgraded to a flagrant foul two and automatic ejection.

"After review, the foul has been updated to a flagrant foul penalty two. Draymond Green has been ejected for the windup to the face, impact to the face, follow through with the jersey and the throw-down to the ground," referee Kane Fitzgerald announced.

Shortly after the Warriors stunned the Grizzlies with a 117-116 win, Green returned to his hotel room in Memphis, set up his recording equipment and held an emergency session of "The Draymond Green Podcast."

After mentioning that he would record a longer podcast breaking down the entire game, Green got to business.

"Now let's talk about what everyone's really here for, what everyone wants to talk about, which is me getting ejected for ... I'm not quite sure for what, but for a foul," Green said.

"You know, one thing about the foul is, I actually tried to hold (Clarke) up and well, I wasn't told anything because I left the court, but guys were told I was ejected for throwing him down, which is very interesting because even when he hit the ground, I still was holding his jersey up.

But at this point, I kind of expect things like that, like I've been suspended from Game 5 of the NBA Finals. You think for one second I don't believe I would get kicked out of Game 1 of the second round? Not surprising to me at all. Not one bit," Green said.

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Golden State Warriors Denver Nuggets102-98 Memphis Grizzlies Golden State Warriors116-117 Memphis Grizzlies Golden State WarriorsWed01:30 Golden State Warriors Memphis GrizzliesSun00:30

"When they reviewed the foul for as long as they reviewed it, I said to myself 'Hmm, I wonder what they could be deciding that's possibly going to take this long?

I'm actually dumb enough to think I wasn't going to get a Flagrant 1. Talk about an idiot. You want to call anyone an idiot, look no further than Draymond Green himself."

The fans in Memphis were chanting 'Throw him out,' and when Green learned that he had been ejected, he did indeed dance, taunting the fans before leaving the court and heading up the tunnel to the locker room.

"I was about to start dancing to the crowd saying 'Kick him out, kick him out' to taunt them because it's like 'Kick him out for that?'

And when I was literally starting to edge up off the scorer's table, something said to me 'But it's you involved in this play, Draymond. So because it's you involved in this play, you probably shouldn't dance because you should probably always expect the unexpected'," Green continued.

"And so I sat there. And then the official turned. He had a hard time telling us what happened. He said 'There's going to be a Flagrant' and like, a long pause, 'Two.'

I am dumb enough to think that it would not even be a Flagrant 1, that the playoffs are a little tougher and not as soft as the regular season, that you can bump a little and get away with a little more. We've seen questionable calls in the first round, things that didn't get reviewed."

Green, who was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 Finals against Cleveland when a foul was upgraded to a flagrant, said his reputation was the reason for flagrant foul two rather than a hard foul.

Sometimes I guess it's just a case-by-case thing, it's a reputation thing. I think tonight was probably a reputation thing more so than a hard foul."

Green clearly doesn't agree with the assessment of what happened on the play and hopes the NBA will reduce the penalty to a Flagrant 1. The league should come down with a ruling on Monday.

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