With about 1:20 left in the second quarter of Golden State Warriors’ 117-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors’ Draymond Green committed a flagrant-2 foul on Brandon Clarke, leading to his ejection and strong reaction from around the league, including from Clarke himself.
“He’s been known for flagrant fouls in his career,” Clarke told reporters after the game. “I’ve watched them on TV my whole life, it seems like. … It’s not shocking that he did that. It’s something he’s done in the past.”
On the play, Green’s initial contact, in which it appeared Green hit Clarke in the face, would likely be a flagrant-1 foul call on most players. But then Green grabbed Clarke’s jersey as he when up for a shot and pulled him down to the floor.
Kane Fitzgerald, the official who ejected Green from the game, stood by his decision in the pool report, in which officials review video and then answer questions from the media.
“The first part was the wind up and significant contact to the face,” Fitzgerald said to Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. “And then the pull down from the jersey grab and throw down to the floor to an airborne vulnerable player makes that unnecessary and excessive. That’s what led to the flagrant foul penalty two.”
Warriors React to Draymond Green Flagrant-2 Ejection
After the ejection, the Warriors came out of halftime and, within four minutes, erased a six-point deficit and took a 2-point lead. After the game, several Warriors disagreed with Fitzgerald’s ejection of Green but remained reserved in their criticism of the call.
Head coach Steve Kerr said after the game that he was surprised by the call.
“We were all angry,” he said. “We thought it was a really tough call.”
There’s no way Kerr said this to the Dubs at halftime after Draymond’s ejection 😂
Kerr thought his team came out determined, and not angry, and that composure helped the team fight back and squeak out this road playoff victory.
Third-year guard Jordan Poole, finished the game with a playoff career high of 31 points and dished out nine assists, acknowledged that losing Green changed certain dynamics for the rest of the game.
“Personally, I didn’t think it was going to be a flagrant 2, especially throwing him out in the first half,” Poole told reporters after the game. “But that’s what they called, and we did a really good job fighting all game.”
Steph Curry also said he disagreed with the call but credited his team with battling through adversity to win the game.
“Tough call obviously on the road to start a series,” Curry said. “For a guy like Draymond to head to the locker room. Nobody wants to see that, it’s not good for the game. I don’t think he deserved that obviously.
“We got a little emotional rise out of it, tried to stay locked in and, you know, deal with the circumstances and give ourselves a chance to win.”
Players Around the League React to Ejection
Several stars around the league, including Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and Javale McGee used Twitter to criticize the call.
Lillard, of the Portland Trail Blazers, tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “We have gotta have better context with these rules, man.”
We gotta have better context with these rules man.
The Utah Jazz’s Mitchell simply wrote: “Flagrant 2???”
Flagrant 2???
McGee, of the Phoenix Suns, seemed to imply in his tweet that NBA officiating has become overbearing, saying: “Todays league: flagrant 2… BACK IN THE DAY: common foul!”
Todays league: flagrant 2… BACK IN THE DAY: common foul!
And Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks appeared to imply that the officials took into account Green’s reputation and history of ejections when making their ruling: “Can’t officiate the PLAYER officiate the PLAY.”
Can’t officiate the PLAYER officiate the PLAY
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Brandon Clarke Sounds Off on Warriors’ Draymond Green; NBA Players React