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  4. Draymond Green's playoff stomp and ejection were just the latest for the NBA's biggest villain. Here is a timeline of his controversial moments.

Draymond Green's playoff stomp and ejection were just the latest for the NBA's biggest villain. Here is a timeline of his controversial moments.

Draymond Green's playoff stomp and ejection were just the latest for the NBA's biggest villain. Here is a timeline of his controversial moments.
Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images
  • Draymond Green is one of the greatest villains in sports.
  • On Monday, he was ejected from a playoff game for stomping on the chest of Kings forward Domantas Sabonis.
  • Green is a 4-time NBA All-Star, but he has also finished first or second in technical fouls five times in 11 seasons.
  • Green has lost $1.3 million in his career due to suspensions and fines and has a history of being at the center of messy things in the biggest moments.

Draymond Green was ejected in the first round of this year's playoffs for stomping on the chest of Damontas Sabonis.

After the game, Green explained why he stomped on Sabonis.

"My leg got grabbed, second time in two nights," Green told the media. "Referees just watch it. I gotta land my foot somewhere, and I am not the most flexible person, so [my leg] is not stretching that far."

Green later added that the refs explained the ejection by telling him that he "stomped too hard."

Of course, Green is no stranger to controversies. 

Draymond is a technical foul machine.

Draymond is a technical foul machine.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Green has finished first or second in technical fouls five times in his 11 NBA seasons and is on pace to do so again this year. He has already exceeded 16 technicals this season, earning him an automatic one-game suspension.

He has been fined $1.3 million in his career.

He has been fined $1.3 million in his career.
Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images

According to Spotrac, Green has forfeited $1.3 million in fines and lost salary for all his technicals, flagrant fouls, ejections, and suspensions.

In 2013, Green was ejected from the NBA's Christmas Day game for elbowing Blake Griffin in the neck area.

 

In 2016, Green was fined for kicking Steven Adams in the groin.

In 2016, Green was fined for kicking Steven Adams in the groin.
Draymond Green kicks Steven Adams.      Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

During Game 3 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals, Green's leg swung up and hit Adams in the groin after being fouled on a shot. The NBA fined Green $25,000.

This was one of several incidents involving Green and a flailing limb. It was often joked that Green only has control of three limbs at any given time.

And then there was the famous swing at LeBron's groin.

 

Green was clearly at the peak of his powers during the 2016 postseason. In the Finals against the Cavaliers, Draymond and LeBron James got into a tussle near mid-court. In the replay, Green can be seen swinging his arm at LeBron's groin as he stepped over the Warriors forward.

The Warriors won that game and took a 3-1 lead. However, after the game, the NBA retroactively gave Green a flagrant foul, which led to an automatic suspension because it was his fourth of the postseason.

The Cavs won the next three games and the championship.

Green cost the Warriors a chance at a win when he somehow kicked James Harden in the head on a rebound.

In the second overtime of a game against the Houston Rockets early in the 2016-17 season, Green's leg hit Harden in the head on a rebound. Green was given a flagrant foul that cost the Warriors a chance to tie the game.

In the 2017 NBA Finals, Green nearly took Iman Shumpert's head off with an out-of-control limb.

Green was called for a foul on the play and, of course, he argued the call

In 2017, Green got into an ugly fight with Bradley Beal that spilled into the crowd.

Early in the 2017-18 season, after Beal hit Green in the face, the pair wrestled to the ground and into the crowd. This led to an ugly fight between the teams.

Beal and Green were ejected but not suspended. The NBA did fine both players.

Green loves to go at other star players on the NBA's biggest stages.

Just 67 seconds into Game 1 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, Green shoved James Harden in the throat area and received a technical foul. 

Green went at LeBron again in the 2018 NBA Finals.

Near the end of the first half of Game 1, LeBron drove to the basket, and Green's finger caught LeBron in the eye. Many people felt the contact was intentional. Green was given a technical foul, not for the poke, but for arguing the foul call. 

The poke clearly damaged LeBron's eye.

 

Even Steve Kerr occasionally gets tired of Draymond's antics.

 

During one ugly stretch of games for the Warriors during the 2018-19 season, Kerr was seemingly caught on camera saying he was "so fucking tired of Draymond's shit."

In 2018, Green got into an ugly argument with then-teammate Kevin Durant during a game.

In the 2019 playoffs, Green appeared to throw an elbow at Chris Paul's head.

Luckily it missed. Green did receive a technical

His altercations even extended off the court.

His altercations even extended off the court.
Draymond Green.      David Zalubowski/AP Images

In 2016, Green was arrested in East Lansing after being accused of punching a Michigan State football player during an altercation. Green later agreed to a plea agreement in which he was fined $650.

And there was the weird beef with Conor McGregor over a Warriors jersey.

Many of Draymond's beefs have been entertaining, but maybe none more than his post-Finals interview in 2015.

 

After the 2015 NBA Finals in which the Warriors beat the Cavaliers and won their first championship of the Steph Curry-Klay Thompson-Draymond era, Green stopped for a memorable interview during the championship parade.

Green took over the interview with some random statements such as "it's our league," and "they suck," a reference to LeBron James and the Cavs.

At 33, Green is still going at it, getting into an ongoing war of words with Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies.

At 33, Green is still going at it, getting into an ongoing war of words with Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks      Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

After Brooks told ESPN that he did not like Green, Draymond responded by calling Brooks an idiot with a fan-level intelligence for the game.

"If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies is not ready to compete for a championship, look no further than this idiot right here," Green said on his podcast.

The next time the two teams faced each other, the Grizzlies won and Brooks used the postgame interview to take shots at Green, saying he should keep talking to help Brooks play better.

"That's what I do, I talk," Brooks said when asked about his message to Green. "I told him... keep doing his podcast, keep blogging, keep doing his thing off the court. It's cute, it's fun for him."

After the game, Green also accused Brooks of trying to bait him into a technical foul.

Later, when Kyrie Irving seemingly turned down Brooks' jersey in a post-game swap, Green enjoyed the moment on his podcast. He laughed non-stop for about 10 seconds and then just said wow, several times.

Not surprsingly, Green's podcast has gotten him in trouble also.

Not surprsingly, Green
YouTube/The Volume

Green, as always, says his mind on his podcast. However, in one episode, he called ESPN's Kendrick Perkins a "c--n" for saying he had hoped LeBron James would get hurt before facing Perkins' Celtics in the playoffs.

After Perkins fired back, Green apologized and held himself accountable, saying he was "wrong" for using the word.

A recent video also showed him punching teammate Jordan Poole during a practice.

Green and Poole got into a heated discussion during a preseason practice just before the 2022-23 season. After Green approached his teammate, Poole shoved Green, who responded by punching Poole in the face. 

Green was not suspended by the team and it is unclear what discipline he received from the Warriors.

"It's the NBA, professional sports, these things happen," general manager Bob Myers told the media. "No one likes it, we don't condone it. It'll take some time to move through it and move forward, which we will."

It is the NBA, but it is also Draymond Green.


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