Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating, the NBA announced Monday.
Green’s comments came after Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, in which the 27-year-old picked up his 11th technical foul of the season. NBA players must serve an automatic one-game suspension after their 16th technical in a season, and another one-game suspension every two technicals thereafter.
“It’s bad,” Green told The Athletic, adding that officials are making things personal with players. “It’s horrible. It’s really bad. I don’t know why it is. But I think it’s ridiculous. It’s ruining the game. … It should be one of, if not the main priority, to be solved. It definitely should.
“…They can get a new crop [of officials], a whole new crop. Too many personal things going on. Too much ‘me against you.’ It just don’t work that way.”
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said last week he hopes Green can learn when to “pull back” from officials to avoid being called for technical fouls.
“The tough part is we don’t want Draymond to be passive,” he said . “We want him to be fiery, and we want him to be yelling. He’s got to walk that line, but it’s a tough line to walk, because he’s so passionate. That’s what makes him great.
“But, there’s just a point where he’s going to have to pull back. He has to feel that moment. We can talk to the league and plead our case, but ultimately, he’s got to feel when he’s got to pull back.”
Green’s criticism of refereeing came just a few weeks after he slammed the league’s last-two-minutes officiating reports, calling them “pointless” and questioning why the NBA would only judge crunch-time action rather than calls or non-calls throughout games.
The two-time All-Star leads the league in technicals this season with 11, three more than teammate Kevin Durant and the Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins. Green has been ejected twice, most recently on Dec. 30 after picking up two technical fouls in 47 seconds against the Grizzlies. After being called for eight technicals through his first two NBA seasons, the sixth-year veteran tallied 39 over the past three seasons, including 15 in 2016-17.
–Field Level Media
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