Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted that attacker Draymond Green “crossed the line” on Saturday night when he was ejected in the closing seconds of a 102-100 loss against the Charlotte Hornets.
The wild streak that led to Green’s ejection started with 9.3 seconds remaining in regular time and the Warriors led 100-98 as guard Brad Wanamaker was tied for a jump by Hornets guard LaMelo Ball. After Hornets forward Gordon Hayward cornered the ball and it hit the ground, Green quickly seemed to tie Hayward down for a jump. However, the Hornets were given a time-out.
Green started arguing with the referees and was quickly charged with two technical fouls and sent off, giving the Hornets two free throws and the ball. Charlotte guard Terry Rozier took to the line and hit both free throws to make it 100.
Seconds later, Rozier fired a shot from the corner on the bell to give the Hornets the victory.
“He crossed the line,” Kerr said of Green. “That’s the most important thing. We love his passion and his energy. Without him, we wouldn’t be the team we are, but that doesn’t give him a license to cross that line, and he knows it.”
“His first technique was evaluated when he cursed his opponent,” said Davis, who explained the mistake and is the Warriors’ chief of staff. “It was judged as his first technical foul for verbally harassing an opponent. He then shouted directly to a match referee and received his (second) technical foul and was sent off by the rule,” he added.
Kerr said he “didn’t have time” for a statement in the heat of the moment, as the Warriors rushed to include Juan Toscano-Anderson in the game to replace Green.
But what upset Kerr and the Warriors staff happened in the sequence before the jump between the two. Kerr said he asked for a time out before Ball tied Wanamaker to create the jump in the first place.
“There’s a lot to relax,” Kerr said of the final seconds. “But if you just want to give chase, it’s a very difficult decision about a fumble that turns into a jump where they time out. Especially since I tried to call a time out in the exact same situation when Brad the ball on top So since the exact same thing happened consecutively we only had real ball possession I tried to call a time out And then looking at the post game replay it’s a fumble, it actually bounces off the floor, Draymond throws himself after him; in my opinion it should be another jump between the two. “
Davis explained that, in the opinion of officials, the draw occurred before Kerr requested a time-out. Wanamaker admitted he hadn’t heard Kerr calling for a time-out, but he wasn’t sure how the series played out.
“LaMelo ties Brad up before Kerr calls for a timeout,” Davis said. “Post-game video confirmed this decision was judged correctly.”
It was a statement the Warriors disagreed with, but it was a moment for which Green took responsibility. Warriors forward Eric Paschall said that when the team returned to the locker room after the game, Green took the blame for the two late technical fouls.
“He said it was his fault,” added Paschall. And he took over like he always does as a leader. We keep ‘rocking’ with Dray no matter what. A great guy, competitor, so everything is fine. the next to win. a great leader and competitor. “
While the Warriors’ teammates and coaches respect Green, Kerr was clearly frustrated with the inability to control his emotions late in the game. Green has been at the forefront of technical fouls for years and has expressed objection to various phone calls from officials or words from opponents. But Kerr has said repeatedly over the years that he felt Green knew when not to cross the line. This time he did it again.