After Hornets swingman Gordon Hayward corralled the ball off the tap and then dropped to the floor, Green seemed to quickly tie up Hayward to get a jump ball. However, the Hornets were awarded a timeout.
Green started arguing with officials and was immediately assessed two technical fouls and ejected, giving the Hornets two free throws and the ball.
“He crossed the line,” Kerr said of Green. “That is the main thing. We love his fire and his energy. We’d not be the group we are without him, but it doesn’t give him license to cross that line, and he knows that.”
Via a pool reporter, team chief Marc Davis explained Green’s ejection.
“His very first technical was evaluated when he led profanity in his opponent,” Davis stated. “He was assessed his first technical foul for taunting a competition. Then he proceeded to lead screaming profanity in a match official and received his [second] technical foul and was ejected as per principle.”
Kerr stated he”didn’t have time to ask” to an explanation in the warmth of this moment, provided that the Warriors had been rushing to test Juan Toscano-Anderson to the game to replace Green.
Kerr said he was calling for a timeout prior to Ball tied up Wanamaker to make the jump ball in the first place.
“There’s a whole lot to unwind,” Kerr said of the final few seconds. “But if you only want to cut to the chase, then it’s a very difficult call on a loose ball which becomes a jump ball they get a timeout on. Especially because in the exact same scenario, I was attempting to call a timeout if Brad had the ball at the top of the key when they forced the leap ball just prior to that.
“So the specific same thing happened back to back, just we really had possession of the ball when I attempted to call timeout. And then watching the replay after the match, it’s a loose ball, the ball actually bouncing on the floor, Draymond dives following it; in my estimation, it should be another jump ball.”
Davis explained that in the officials’ judgment, the tie-up happened before Kerr asked a timeout. For his part, Wanamaker confessed he did not hear Kerr calling for a timeout, but he wasn’t sure precisely how the arrangement played out.
“LaMelo ties Brad up before Kerr asking the timeout,” Davis stated. “The postgame video confirmed this choice as correctly judged.”
It was a judgment that the Warriors didn’t agree with, but it had been a moment for which Green took obligation. Warriors ahead Eric Paschall stated when the team came back into the locker room following the game, Green took the blame for picking up both overdue technical fouls.
“He explained it had been his fault,” Paschall said. “And he took ownership as he always does as a pioneer. We are still rocking with Dray regardless of what. A great dude, competition, so it is all great. S– happens in the NBA. We’re just going to find out from it and try to return, try to win another one. Fantastic leader and competitor.”
Just as Warriors coaches and teammates respect Green, Kerr was obviously frustrated with Green’s inability to control his feelings late in the match. For many years, Green has been a league leader in technical fouls as he loudly voices his objection to different calls from words or officials from competitions. But Kerr has said repeatedly through the years he believed Green knows when not to cross a line.
It was a lineup that Green stepped on Saturday, leading to a reduction that could have been arguably the Warriors’ most impressive win of this season, provided that celebrity guard Stephen Curry (illness) was a late scratch and centers James Wiseman (wrist) and Kevon Looney (ankle) stand out.
“Draymond can’t do that,” Kerr said. “He knows that. He made a dreadful mistake becoming T had up and giving them a chance to take two free throws and tie the match. … As his coach, it’s my job to communicate with him and with the team. That’s what we’ve done, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Davis stated that the Hornets were awarded a timeout prior to Green’s ejection, also before Green tied up Hayward, because the group felt that the Hornets made the timeout telephone in time.
” P.J. Washington requested its timeout and Gordon Hayward needed apparent and sole possession of the ball,” Davis said. “According to rule, Charlotte has been granted the timeout. Postgame video review confirms this choice.”
Regardless of Kerr’s frustration with Green’s activities, Green’s teammates replicated a similar message about their chief following the match.
“He has been in this league long enough,” Warriors guard Damion Lee said. “He knows what’s right and what is wrong. And it doesn’t matter; day in, day out, I am always going to ride with Day Day. Throughout the good, during the bad, I am always going to ride with Draymond. … It isn’t important if I am a Warrior or not a Warrior. That’s my guy. That’s one of my vets. And I’m always going to ride Day .”
Apart from Green’s technical fouls, Kerr talked with a tinge of sadness that his short-handed team couldn’t shut the door after fighting hard all night without Curry.
“It is a tough loss, obviously,” Kerr said. “They don’t get any harder than this one. That’s two straight, back , really difficult losses. We are going to keep moving forward. That’s what you’re doing. The NBA season is full of a lot of ups and downs, and obviously, this can be a really tough one. But you have to prepare for another game.”
