For Green, the fouls aren’t fair
Warriors forward won’t change his game because of flagrant points
OAKLAND, Calif. — Draymond Green was called for his first flagrant foul of the 2018 NBA playoffs on Monday when he caught Davis Bertans in the face with an elbow as the two were tied up for a rebound beneath the basket late in the fourth quarter of a 116101 win for Green’s Golden State Warriors over the San Antonio Spurs.
To hear Green tell it, Bertans was equally to blame.
“It is what it is,” Green said. “I didn’t even see the replay. I thought it was a little bit of a flop.
“I don’t even know if I hit him, but if I did — I’m not saying I didn’t, I don’t know — but if it’s going to be a flagrant foul, shouldn’t it be a double flagrant? I can just get grabbed around my neck?
“I’m not going to sit up here and say I did nothing, but I got to get someone off my neck though. If you’re going to penalize me, why not penalize both? That’s my thing.”
Whether or not the Warriors forward has a point, here are the facts.
Bertans and the Spurs will likely be done by early next week, perhaps as soon as Game 4 on Sunday in San Antonio. Whether Bertans gets a flagrant foul point is irrelevant.
Green, on the other hand, needs to be careful he doesn’t put himself in the same situation he did in 2016, when he was suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals after punching LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the privates during Game 4.
That play wasn’t what got Green suspended, though. It was the accumulation of four flagrant foul points over the course of the playoffs — a process that began with a body slam of Michael Beasley at the end of Game 3 of Golden State’s first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
In a few weeks, if Golden State is dealing with a Green suspension during a pivotal game against either the Rockets or Cavaliers, this will be the moment everyone comes back to — when Green lost his cool while battling for position in the post and caught Bertans in the face.
Green, who has 21 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists through the Warriors’ first two games this post-season, kept bringing up the possibility of the play getting rescinded, and his flagrant foul point with it.
“Nah, I don’t care,” the 28-year-old said when asked about his flagrant foul count in the playoffs. “It is what it is. Life goes on. More important things in life than worrying about a flagrant point.
“Maybe it’ll get rescinded. I got put in a chokehold like I was in WWE or something, so it may get rescinded. Who knows?”