Draymond Green, much to the chagrin of the Golden State Warriors and the NBA, has had his share of kicking incidents over the years, not to mention non-kicking moments that didn't exactly bathe the forward in glory. You'd think, however, with the Warriors entering what could be one of his final playoff runs as the No. 7 seed but up 2-1 entering Game 4 at home against the Houston Rockets, that Green might be on his best behavior.
Some wishes aren't granted, and Draymond's going to Draymond. Those are facts of life and a dust-up with Rockets big Tari Eason in the second quarter sent things on a strange path.
On a loose ball that Eason knocked loose from Green's dribble, both players dove on the floor and got tangled up. The Warriors big man took a tumble but caught Eason square with his feet on the way down and then the two got into it a bit as they got off the ground.
Draymond Green did not pick up a 2nd technical foul after this play pic.twitter.com/uWN22qMPL6
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 29, 2025
The refs went to the monitor to review the play, though, and ruled that Green forcibly delivered a kick to Eason's head. When that came across the speakers, everyone thought the Warriors forward was ejected as he'd already picked up a first technical foul. That wasn't the case, though, as they ruled it as a Flagrant I, which, more importantly, meant Green wouldn't be ejected.
Draymond Green mysteriously avoids ejection after another kicking incident
For the official explanation of why Green wasn't ejected, it would've had to have been called a technical foul for the Warriors star to be ejected. The officials, upon review, ruled that the excessive force and contact — you know, the kick to the head — came during play, which constitutes a flagrant foul, not another technical foul. Again, that's the official explanation.
Rockets fans certainly have a gripe that Green should've been ejected. It's not at all definitive that the kick to the head came "in play", to begin with. There's a case to be made on that alone that the contact the refs mentioned after the review was still after the play and should've been the second tech. However, there's also the fact that it feels a bit like cherrypicking the kick as the only part of the incident.
There were, however, extracurriculars that happened well after the play with some minor pushing, what appeared to be either another kick or a flail from Green as he got up, and more words. With that in consideration, there could've been enough after the play to talk about a technical foul, or at least enough to consider the initial kick to the head as after the play because of what transpired after.
Obviously, the refs saw it differently. And though he wasn't ejected, that was Green's third foul, which sent him to the bench and allowed the Rockets to go on a run to end the first half. But perhaps Houston would've liked him to be out for a little longer than the rest of the half.