Looking at Draymond Green Through a Different Lens

Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals will be looked upon as the Draymond Green game.

Let’s quickly look at Draymond’s phenomenal Game 1 performance:

4 points
2-for-12 from the field
0-for-4 from 3
0-for-3 from the free throw line
3 turnovers
6 fouls

Draymond is an incredibly online athlete who constantly searches his own name and sees all of the critiques of his play so it shouldn’t have surprised the Celtics when Green came into Game 2 demanding violence. Unfortunately for Boston, they were totally surprised by Draymond’s intensity and appeared thoroughly rattled by his mere presence on the court.

Grant Williams and Draymond Green getting chippy early in Game 2 😳 pic.twitter.com/h4QIgD8b1y

— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2022

Draymond started the game off by bodyslamming Grant Williams and receiving an early technical foul. He then used that early tech as a weapon against both the Celtics and the refs knowing the NBA was not going to kick him out of the Finals with a 2nd technical foul. Green terrorized Boston both physically and mentally leading to the moment that should’ve led to an ejection.

Should Draymond have been ejected here? pic.twitter.com/gEiIij9dnD

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 6, 2022

He did a Hollywood Hulk Hogan leg drop on Jaylen Brown instigating a potential fight but the refs did not want to put a national microscope over their officiating by kicking out one of Golden State’s most important players so no technicals were called.

Before I go any further it’s important to make my stance clear: Fuck Draymond Green.

I have no problem with guys playing with aggression. As a Knicks fan, I can acknowledge the only reason those 90’s teams managed to succeed was due to their physicality and WWF-style defense.

But Draymond doesn’t have the same level of controlled chaos as those guys. His fouls are reckless. He was kicked out of a game against Memphis for slamming a player to the court while he was going up for a layup. He’s been kicked out of games for literally kicking players in the dick. He spends the entire game shouting out the refs and receiving zero consequences for behavior that any other player would be T’d up for instantly.

He has no idea how to shoot a basketball and would be unemployed if he didn’t get drafted to a team with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. He plays this faux-villain role yet never actually ends up in any real altercations with anyone. It’s frustrating to watch an unskilled basketball player dominate an entire NBA broadcast due to non-basketball-related plays.

That being said, after the dust cleared from Game 2, I had to re-assess the way I perceive Draymond Green.

As annoying and infuriating as it is to watch Draymond do whatever he wants, it is suuuuper corny to want him penalized. There’s something very pro-cop about begging for Draymond to be called for technical fouls. If I see someone stealing from the grocery store, I don’t run to the manager or call the police. I mind my business.

Draymond Green consistently breaks the rules. Why do I suddenly turn into a little snitch crying about law and order like an unhappy white lady calling the police on a black guy for jogging in the “wrong” neighborhood?

It’s not up to me to police the game. I’m not actually mad at Draymond Green for being a lunatic on the court. I’m mad at the other players for allowing him to get away with it. If the refs are going to give him special treatment, it’s up to the players to police themselves and for some reason, no one has punched his head off his shoulders.

So I’m not mad at Draymond. I’m disappointed in these NBA players for allowing him to kick and scratch and scream at them all game long and just take it. Jaylen Brown should’ve squared up. Grant Williams should’ve powerbombed Draymond through the hardwood.

Draymond isn’t the problem. The other 348 players in the NBA who don’t knock his head off are the real problem.