Bad-guy role is a good fit
Green thrives on being disliked by fans of Cavaliers
CLEVELAND — Like a heel searching for heat, Draymond Green grinned up at the angry Cleveland crowd, lifted his hands in the air and urged fans to give him everything they had Friday night in the third quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
After the game stoked the kindling.
“I don’t pay much attention to anybody in Cleveland, honestly,” Green said. “Don’t seem to be the sharpest people around.”
Green’s history with these fans goes back to last year, when he was suspended for Game 5 of the finals for swiping at LeBron James’ groin area after James stepped over him during Game 4.
The moment changed that series. The Warriors entered Game 5 last season up 3-1, just as they are now, but they didn’t win another game.
That incident established Green’s status as a villain in Cleveland. In Games 3 and 4 of these finals, the crowd waited for Green to lose his cool. Both nights, it found cause to chant “Draymond sucks,” doing so earlier in Game 4 than in Game 3.
A foul called on Green caused both him and Warriors coach Steve Kerr to argue with the officials. The Warriors were called for twice as many fouls as the Cavaliers in the first quarter.
Referee John Goble issued a technical foul to Kerr for his protest.
“I thought they called it on Draymond,” Kerr said. “I thought I deserved it.
“But I thought I heard the PA announcer say that he it was on Draymond.”
The public address announcer did indeed announce Green as the guy receiving the technical. It was marked that way in the original box score too.
So when Green was assessed a technical in the third quarter, the video board played “Hit the Road Jack,” assuming he was ejected with his second one.
Green said he knew all along the first technical wasn’t on him.
“They messed that one up bad,” he said. But it didn’t stop him from having some fun with the fans.
Meanwhile, the officials had to correct what they then realized was a recording error at the scorer’s table. They hadn’t paid enough attention to notice that the public address announcer had mistakenly announced Green as the recipient of the firstquarter technical.
“We did not do a very good job of listening to the PA announcer and we did not hear him announce it,” official Mike Callahan told a pool reporter. “I take full responsibly for that.”
The Warriors are going into Game 5 this year with the same 3-1 lead. Unlike last year, however, they will have their gritty forward available.
“Thank God I get to play on Monday,” Green said. “Hopefully.”