Draymond Green curiously ejected after squabble with Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell
Draymond Green's latest ejection left plenty of confusion on the Golden State Warriors sideline.
Green, who often wears his emotions – for better or worse – on the court, found himself in the middle of an altercation Saturday with Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell in the third quarter in San Francisco. Though the situation was heated and the two stars continued to jaw back and forth, no punches were thrown and control was restored.
After a lengthy review by officials to determine what had happened, they came away giving Green a second technical foul, which is grounds for an automatic ejection.
Green finished the game with eight points, five rebounds and four assists in the Warriors' 118-110 loss to the Cavs.
Why was Draymond Green suspended against the Cavaliers?
Green drew his second technical after a third quarter squabble with Mitchell, who seemed to take exception with being the recipient of a hard shove by Green one play before. As Green dribbled across midcourt, Mitchell charged at him and gave him a shove of his own. The two exchanged words as a referee and teammates stepped in to defuse the situation.
After referees reviewed to see if Mitchell's push was worthy of a flagrant foul, the decision was made that Green – on the previous play – did in fact make contact with Mitchell after he knocked the ball away. They assessed the technical to Green, who responded by laughing in disbelief, before clapping and playing to the crowd as he made his way to the locker room. Mitchell, who was given a common foul for his shove, responded by holding up two fingers in reference to the second technical.
"I had never heard this rule, but apparently you can retroactively call a technical from two plays before upon review," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "There's a lot of plays I'd like to go back to from three years ago. It was bizarre."
"I didn’t know you could take something from a previous play, but I guess I didn’t know the rules," Warriors' Kevon Looney said.
Green's first technical foul came in the first quarter after a dispute with the referee. He didn't seem all that surprised to be the victim of such a strange second technical foul.
"I am the same person that got suspended from the NBA Finals for flagrant fouls that were all called from after the game," Green told ESPN following the defeat. "Nothing surprises me."
How many times has Draymond Green been ejected in his career?
Saturday night's ejection was Green's first of the season and 17th of his career. That includes regular season and playoffs combined and is the most among active players.