Draymond Green’s flailing limbs got him in trouble again in Thursday evening’s 132-127 double overtime loss to the Houston Rockets. Green was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul late in the game after inadvertently kicking James Harden in the head. Green was also assessed a technical foul earlier for a demonstrative reaction to getting called for a foul.
Green ultimately fouled out of the game and voiced his displeasure afterwards, both at the podium and on Twitter, implying that he is being unfairly targeted due to a number of flagrant incidents in the playoffs last year.
ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler joined The Audible on KNBR 1050 on Friday morning, and disagreed with the idea that Green is not getting the benefit of the doubt for past behavior, but rather because of his consistent bickering with the referees.
“I don’t think he’s marked because of a couple of kicking incidents or things like that, I think one of the things that works against Draymond Green is right now he’s developing a reputation for having something to say on every single whistle and it’s so over the top demonstrative,” Legler said.
“Sometimes when I watch him, it’s shocking to me that referees take as much as they do from him verbally. He was in a situation last night where he had already gotten a technical foul and there was a call that went against him. I mean he sprints across the court to confront the official. He’s got his hand on his shoulder, he’s walking with him, touching him, talking to him. Very demonstrative. He already had a technical. He was very close to getting a second one, getting ejected from the game.”
Green has apparently forgotten about his preseason commitment to not speak to the referees this season, with the All-Star power forward complaining after nearly every call in Thursday’s game.
“Officals are human beings, and they just get tired of after every whistle there has to be this discussion, and this guy that’s running around and yelling and his hands are waving and he’s cursing,” Legler said. “I think that’s what he needs to be able to dial back, and then he’ll start to get the benefit of the calls, because he plays so hard to put him in position to get calls and to make plays defensively, but when he reacts the way that he does every time a call doesn’t go his way, tt gets filed in the back of the minds of officials.”
“Pick your spots more wisely on when to plead your case. I think Draymond doesn’t do that. He pleads his case on every whistle.”
Listen to the full interview below.
