NBA rescinds second technical foul given to Warriors' Draymond Green
ESPN's Nick Friedell reported on Friday afternoon that the NBA has rescinded the second technical foul given to Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green during the second quarter of Thursday's 119-104 loss to the New York Knicks.
Green earned a first technical for arguing too long with officials during the first quarter and was then ejected before halftime because official John Butler thought Green was yelling at him following a turnover. However, replays showed that Green was actually voicing his frustrations toward teammate and rookie James Wiseman:
Crew chief Ben Taylor admitted to Golden State coach Steve Kerr at halftime that Butler made the wrong call.
"At halftime Ben Taylor came out and told me that it was a mistake," Kerr explained following the defeat. "That John Butler didn't realize that Draymond was yelling at his teammate. He thought he was yelling at him."
Kerr, members of his staff, Green, and Warriors guard Stephen Curry all argued the matter with the officiating crew, but Taylor told a pool reporter after the game that rescinding the foul on the court was never considered. Curry said after the contest that he wasn't sure if officials can review such an ejection.
"The refs got confused," Curry said. "And I don't know what the rules are in that situation when it's pretty clear who he was talking to, and I don't know if you can take it back in the moment, but it was pretty glaring that he was talking to his own teammate and kind of unfortunate that it got confused, so move on."
With players destined to continue competing inside mostly empty arenas through the winter because of coronavirus-related restrictions, the NBA may need to address this and similar matters before the playoffs start.
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