At this point we can only look at Draymond Green in amazement.
Not anger.
Not disappointment. Or sadness.
Just baffled.
As you probably know, Green earned two technical fouls in the first four minutes of an absolutely critical game in Orlando Wednesday night. The video is posted below.
Although, honestly, it is merely a collection of greatest hits from countless earlier Draymond Green one man shows.
He pantomimes how upset he is with an official’s call, walks over, ignoring the game, and goes at the ref verbally over and over. In this case it looks like he is saying, “Why did you say that?” again and again until he’s teed up.
And then he persists, although Steph Curry steps in and taps him lightly on his chest in a “C’mon man, let’s go” gesture.
But — stop us if you’ve this one — Green won’t let it go. He’s still barking at the ref when he goes to the bench, finally saying the magic word or phrase that gets him sent to the locker room with the score 6-6.
And if you stick with the video to the end, there’s a shot of Curry, shoulders slumped, looking down at the floor and shaking his head. He looks like he’s had it.
Steve Kerr was curt after the game, but didn’t cry foul. “He deserved it,” Kerr said.
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And it is as this point that we deliver a plea:
Please. You know all those good points you’re is going to make about this happening again?
Stop. Don’t. Save the trees. Or the gigabytes. Whatever.
It’s been done. All the arguments, all the perfectly logical points, have been made. Repeatedly.
He’s hurting his team. He’s hurting his image. He’s tarnishing the luster of a dynasty team that reached the NBA Finals six times in eight years and won four championships.
It is not a stretch to say that he’s diminishing Curry’s place in NBA history. Curry may be a transcendent talent, who has made a point to involve himself in matters of civic and national good, but a small segment of doubters are going to say he may be the face of the team, but a real leader would find a way to tone Green down.
And then there is the personal stuff. Green just needs to learn to walk away. He needs to be made aware of the consequences of these outbursts. He needs the tools to manage his anger.
Already tried it. All of it.
You know, a case could be made — and will be made by some — that Green sabotaged this season with two wildly over-the-top incidents — first, choking Rudy Gobert on Nov. 14. Here’s the video, and it is worth refreshing your memory. He was suspended five games for this:
And later he was ejected in December for a roundhouse right to the head of Jusuf Nurkic.
That led to his indefinite suspension for what the league office called “a history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
That suspension turned out to be 12 games and he was reinstated at the start of January. At that point the Warriors were 17-18 — 10-10 with Green out. More importantly, factoring in the Gobert suspension, the Nurkic suspension and time missed with a sprained ankle, Green had played in only 15 of the Dubs first 35 games — fewer than half.
The team has had spurts, but from this seat on the couch it seems like they’ve been playing uphill ever since. As Green clearly knows, if this season ends disappointingly . . . if the unthinkable happens and the Warriors miss the playoffs . . . he’s going to get heat for tanking this season with that chaotic start.
And in a world of hot takes and hold-my-beer journalism, there are going to be critics who are going to say this is the second season he tanked after sucker punching Jordan Poole before last year began.
That doesn’t seem to make an impression on him.
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Green returned from suspension with a long list of say-the-right-thing talking points. He was aware he needed to improve. He knew these “antics” couldn’t keep happening. He’d learned some valuable techniques to help him manage his temper.
Which is pretty much what he said on his podcast after the Orlando game.
We went over the usual jumps. Admit blame, “I deserved it.” Acknowledge this isn’t the first time it has happened and that he has to be better. And then minimize the incident as, “a little bump in the road.”
In fact, since it was just a bump, Green spent the first six minutes of the podcast running down a scouting report of Orlando, explaining how network games are picked and emphasizing how important these games are.
Which, you’d think, would be the moment that reality crashed the party and left everyone, including Green, saying “That’s why this cannot happen now. These games are too important. It was an irresponsible loss of control. And for what? Because I disagreed with a foul call and I was mad that the official said something?”
Aren’t there Big Picture concerns that override the bickering?
Nope. The same answer is always the same.
It’s just who I am.
So let’s all do ourselves a favor and quit waiting for a revelation or an awakening or a light bulb moment. It’s not going to happen.
Tony La Russa used to say “The bigger pain in the butt you are, the more talented you’d better be.”
Green’s walked that line for years. Eventually, of course, the balance will tip. The Warriors will say “that’s enough,” and Green’s long career will end.
Until then, we are all Steph Curry — shoulders slumped, eyes downcast, shaking our heads.
This keeps happening.
Amazing.
Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Twitter and Threads @cwnevius