The Golden State Warriors aren’t going to lose Draymond Green for any amount of time, nor will their power forward lose any money after a heated interaction with a shockingly-tall New Orleans Pelicans fan. But he did receive something that strikes fear into the heart of children everywhere: A warning.
Green confronted Pelicans fan Sam Green during the second quarter after Green repeatedly chanted “Angel Reese” at the Warriors forward. The 6-foot-7 fan later bragged to conservative commentator Clay Travis that he’d been “kicked out of several games for heckling players but never had one come up to me in my face.” Well, now he has.
That’s apparently what he enjoys doing: Sitting near the baseline, heckling opposing players until security kicks him out, and watching the Pelicans lose. Whether or not you think “Angel Reese” is a creative taunt, imagine having to sit near this guy when he repeats this witticism 40 or 50 times in the first half. But to be fair, the Pelicans are 1-6 at home this season and 15-33 over the last two seasons. Getting kicked out of these games isn’t much of a punishment.
Green clearly took offense, but in a way that didn’t not sound sexist.
“He just kept calling me a woman. It was a good joke at first, but you can’t keep calling me a woman,” Green said. “I’ve got four kids, one on the way. You can’t keep calling me a woman.”
The fan claimed he didn’t cross a line because he didn’t talk about Draymond’s “baby mommas,” a clear dog whistle phrase, suggests that this fan does not have the most progressive of politics when it comes to race and professional sports. We don’t know which players he’s heckled to get kicked out of games in the past, but let’s just say he didn’t have any issues with Brandon Podziemski Sunday night. Angel Reese is probably wondering why she’s still catching strays during the WNBA offseason
Obviously, confronting fans is a bad idea, especially ones who are clearly reveling in the attention it brings them. This one paid for a blue check on X.com, despite having 182 followers. Draw your own conclusions.
Fans also know NBA players have far more to lose than they do in these sort of confrontations, which is why a man can stand in a “Come at me, bro” posture facing a professional athlete with no fear of physical harm. It’s annoying, but Draymond needs to make better decisions that that, especially since getting yelled at by an NBA All-Star appears to have been one of the highlights of this medical device salesman’s life.
The NBA simply couldn’t be bothered in delivering actual punishment to an encounter that was honestly embarrassing for both parties involved. Instead, they gave Green a warning, possibly delivered in the form of a strongly-worded letter containing the phrase, “You watch it, mister!”
Other options Adam Silver considered included:
A mark on Draymond’s permanent record
Suspension of podcasting privileges
Writing “Being compared to a WNBA All-Star is not a grave insult” on a chalkboard 100 times
No post-lunch cookie
Forcing Draymond to wear a Harrison Barnes jersey to Tuesday’s game in Orlando
Informing Green that the NBA wasn’t mad at him; just disappointed
Making him say one positive thing about Rudy Gobert
Ten wind sprints
20 seconds in timeout
The silent treatment
Speaking of the silent treatment, coach Steve Kerr once again suffered from his recurring hearing issues when reporters asked him to comment.
“I had no problem with it,” Kerr said of Draymond’s actions. “It would have been nice if security had gotten there a little bit earlier. It’s hard to comment on it because I don’t know what was said.”
It’s tough. Kerr is very observant when it comes to the game of basketball, but he keeps losing focus when it comes to seeing or hearing his power forward’s confrontations. But don’t worry. When the Warriors return to NOLA in February, that fan will likely be there with some amazing new material, and a new podcast deal with Outkick.