Draymond Green, a man very familiar with controversy finds himself in the headlines yet again. This time he’s being accused of intentionally kicking an opponent…again. Green, a forward for the Golden State Warriors has a history with misconduct and aggression on the court to say the very least. Only last season in the NBA playoffs Green was fined $25,000 for an offense where he was found to have kicked Steven Adams of Oklahoma City in the groin area. Green has a history of incidences with Adams, or more specifically Adams’ nuts. Too many times has Green appeared to the knee or kick Adams in the groin and for me, the best part of it is that he completely protests his innocence. If you don’t like someone just say it but no Draymond Green continues to adopt a dirty and sly style of play in order to hurt his opponents which is simply out of order. It’s getting to the point where Steven Adams is able to comment on how consistent the accuracy of Green’s kicks are which although when you think about it with a light-hearted approach it is pretty funny, it’s also behavior that the NBA simply cannot tolerate.
His recent bout of aggression occurred on last Thursday night when the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Los Angeles Clippers. It was fairly clear to anyone watching that in a scrap for the bad Green (on his back) launched a kick towards the head of Blake Griffin in what can only be described as a moment of madness for the forward. Needless to say, it does nothing for Draymond Green and only further cements his reputation as one of the NBA’s most dirty players. The best thing that can be taken away from the situation is that thankfully the kick didn’t connect with Griffin’s head, otherwise it could have resulted in a pretty nasty injury. But regardless of whether the injury was caused or not, it’s undebatable that from Green’s point of view there was an intention to hurt an opposition player which to put is bluntly is simply disgusting.
In my opinion the worst part of all of is that Golden State Warriors’ head coat Steve Kerr consistently defends Draymond Green and protests his innocence. Although in any sport it’s important that a coach always stands by his players and backs them up it’s also essential that a coach recognizes when a player must be confronted about issues. If Green is always backed up by his coach and fully supported why would he change? ignoring the fact it’s simply morally wrong to intentionally hurt an opponent, why on earth would Green change his actions and approach to games if the man that coaches and manages him as a player says that he is doing nothing wrong? It’s total madness. In an incident with Steven Adams, Kerr even suggested that the flagrant foul should be rescinded?!?! Kerr claimed that “these types of things typically happen since everyone’s limbs are flailing around when trying to establish position in the post”. To a certain extent this is obviously true but come on. It’s no coincidence that in one way or another Green’s legs end up in contact with a player.
In my opinion Draymond Green is a player that actively seeks to gain an advantage in games through hurting opponents which is morally wrong. A basketball game is won and lost through skill and passion, not a kick in the nuts. But for me this latest incident needs to be partially blamed on the Warrior’s coaching staff, there’s an obvious issue and they need to address it.
