Four-time NBA champion Draymond Green was ejected less than four minutes into the Golden State Warriors–Orlando Magic game on Wednesday (3/27).
It was the fourth time Green was ejected this season.
On the latest episode of his podcast, Green talked about the ejection.
“It just can’t happen,” Green said. “I said what I said. I deserved to be kicked out at that point. If I’m all the way honest with y’all, kind of was trying to turn my body and angle it to go to the bench, but I said what I said a little too soon before angling my body. … But, yeah, it just can’t happen.”
NBA reporter Anthony Slater, who covers the Warriors for The Athletic, wrote about the detailed interaction that got Green ejected.
“Green was whistled for a foul at the 8:50 mark of the first quarter and disputed it. Two possessions later, after an and-1 foul on Steph Curry generated another stoppage, Green went back to official Ray Acosta to continue his case,” Slater wrote. “Acosta gave him a quick technical and began to walk toward the sideline and eventually the scorer’s table to deliver the news. Green continued talking to Acosta — asking him a repetitive question, it appears on video — but was walking toward the timeout huddle, with his back to Acosta, when Acosta whistled him for a second technical and ejected him.”
The Warriors beat the Magic by a final score of 101-93 for their second straight victory in Florida despite Green’s ejection. They defeated the Miami Heat on Tuesday (3/26).
“I’m not going to overreact, like, ‘Oh man!'” Green said. “Stuff is never as good as it seems; it’s never as bad as it seems. I know where I am. I understand what I’m doing moving forward. And my position is just make sure that’s the exception and not the rule.”
The Warriors are 38-34 on the season. They are in 10th place in the Western Conference standings.
Golden State is only a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets, who are on a 10-game winning streak.
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