Draymond Green made a very brief appearance for the Warriors on Wednesday night in Orlando, as the star big man got himself ejected less than four minutes into the game, picking up a pair of technicals for arguing a foul call (that, funny enough, wasn’t even on him).
In the immediate aftermath of Green getting tossed, Stephen Curry was emotional on the floor, showing visible frustration with Green getting himself tossed so early when the Warriors are desperate for wins to stay in the Play-In hunt. Golden State would manage to gut out a 101-93 win, finished off with a dagger three by Steph, but Curry spoke after the game about how Green just can’t let that happen right now because they need him on the floor to be the best version of their team.
On Thursday, Green recorded a new episode of his podcast and spent a minute discussing his ejection, and he did not even really try to defend his actions, instead echoing Steph in saying that it “can’t happen” and that he deserved to be ejected for what he said (without being willing to divulge exactly what he said to get two Ts).
.@Money23Green speaks on getting ejected vs. the Magic pic.twitter.com/JzLYYnEtUD
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) March 28, 2024
Green does end by saying he was hoping his parting words might not make it to the refs but he didn’t turn away fast enough. The lesson probably shouldn’t be that he just needs to turn a different direction when sounding off at the refs, but more that once he’s said his initial piece and earned on T, it’s time to just walk away in total without more parting words. It was his first ejection since returning from his indefinite suspension, so we’ll see if he can internalize his thoughts here and lock in for the stretch run as the Warriors need him to stave off the red-hot Rockets for the 10-seed and give themselves a chance in the Play-In.
