Anyone who knows anything about Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green knows that he likes to stir things up with referees. That is his calling card and he played into that trope after an incident during last Friday's loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Green was arguing a call before getting a technical foul for asking the ref not to wave his hand in his face. It was a bad call compounded later when the officials missed a delay of game penalty against Detroit, only to call one against Warriors star Stephen Curry.
Warriors screwed by refs again after Draymond Green incident
Green was asked about the incident after the game, and specifically whether he had had any other dust ups with that particular referee before:
"I’ve had interactions with all of ’em," Green joked.
While it is a funny response, it's probably not far off base. It's doubtful whether Green has ever met a ref that he genuinely liked. Sure, he can be seen joking around with some of them from time to time, but they are his natural sworn enemy at the end of the day.
His complaints about the double standards in calls is telling though. For years Curry has been denied calls that other stars get, while Green has been given technicals or thrown out of games more for his reputation than for what he actually did.
It's not fair, but no one in the NBA cares about the Warriors crying foul after the success they've had and the dynasty they've built. Officials are obviously supposed to call it the same for everyone, but that's just not always how things play out in practice.
Green is in a weird spot in his career right now. He has declined somewhat this season and the calls for him to come off the bench have grown louder. The calls to trade him also picked up as well, and while the Warriors might be reluctant to do just that, if trading Green is the only way for the Warriors to land Giannis Antetokounmpo then they might have no other choice.
Seeing Green depart would be heartbreaking after everything he has done for the Warriors franchise, but the fanbase has already been through something similar already with Klay Thompson.
A Golden State team without Green to clash with the referees wouldn't feel right ,and at least he has a sense of humor about his own reputation.