Draymond never gets the benefit of the doubt.
Draymond never gets the benefit of the doubt
It should never come as a surprise when Draymond Green picks up a technical foul, but the one he was assessed to earn an ejection on Thursday night against the Knicks was a real head-scratcher.
After a miscommunication with rookie James Wiseman led to a turnover, Green, having already picked up a technical foul in the first quarter, was assessed a second tech as he was running back on defense. The call had everybody on the Warriors perplexed. What could he have possibly done to pick up another T? A closer look at the replay revealed that Draymond had directed some harsh words at Wiseman, which led to the tech. Green, Stephen Curry and coach Steve Kerr all tried to explain that Draymond was yelling at Wiseman, not an opponent or official. But their protests were denied. Green got the boot.
It turns out it was another rookie’s mistake that led to the ejection. First-year ref John Butler thought the profanity Green directed at Wiseman was actually targeted at him. Crew chief Ben Taylor told a pool reporter after the game that the officials did not consider rescinding the tech after hearing Green and Kerr’s explanations.
Kerr said after the game that Taylor admitted to him at halftime that the ejection was a mistake.
As for what Draymond said to earn the tech, Wiseman said it was something like “Catch the ball.” (Probably a more colorful version, though.) Wiseman told reporters that he was “confused” by the whole thing.
With the Warriors’ best defensive player in the locker room, the Knicks were able to pull out a 119–104 victory. Kerr wasn’t willing to pin the loss on the mistaken ejection and Draymond’s absence, though.
“It hurt us, but we were playing very poorly to that point anyway,” Kerr said.
Maybe this incident will teach Draymond something about rookies making mistakes. Wiseman should have realized that Green wanted him to post up at the elbow, not duck toward the baseline. And Butler should have realized that Green was ticked off at Wiseman, not his officiating. Of course, if Draymond was just a little bit nicer, this whole mess could have been avoided. When you have a track record of on-court outbursts he does, you’re not going to get the benefit of the doubt.
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