Draymond Green’s first-quarter ejection vs. Magic among fastest in the past decade

Draymond Green is at it again and has now received his fourth ejection of the campaign. It seems that no matter how much his team has asked him to control his emotions on the NBA floor, he finds a way to impact the game negatively with his low tolerance and aggressive nature. 

This time around, he was thrown out of the match with less than four minutes played on the clock into Golden State’s clash against Orlando on Wednesday night. It was the forward’s first ejection since his 16-game suspension, which was a special punishment made by the NBA after he hit rival Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

With 8:24 still on the first quarter’s clock, the four-time champ started to argue with referee Ron Acosta after a foul was called on Andrew Wiggins. “It’s unfortunate. He deserved it,” his coach Steve Kerr said after beating the Magic 101-93. “And he’ll bounce back.”

Draymond was called for two technical fouls in a matter of seconds, and earned his ejection. “After a prolonged diatribe, Green directed egregious profane language towards a game official,” explained crew chief Mitchell Irvin, who then said this had nothing to do with the player’s history of misconduct.

Just as the veteran was seen walking to the locker room, his teammate Stephen Curry was visibly frustrated at the situation. Once the contest was over, he recognised how badly they need him on the floor. “We need him. He knows that. We all know that, so whatever it takes to keep him on the floor, for him to be available, that’s what’s got to happen, especially at this time of year,” he said. “I’ve talked to him plenty of times about it, even tonight, and I’ll continue to talk to him as a teammate and a friend.”

Nevertheless, the 36-year-old praised his team for the way they handled themselves on the court and conquered the game. “But it was a beautiful team effort to respond the way we did,” Curry expressed. “We went and took it, and that’s a good sign for us.”

Green didn’t attend the press after the match, but did share his excitement on social media by showing appreciation to his squad. “Great DUB!! Appreciate my dawgs holding it down! On to the next one! BOUNCE BACK!” he wrote on X.

Forward Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors in Draymond’s absence and was recognised by his locker room

Despite Green’s on-court antics earning him an ejection, Andrew Wiggins stayed calm and inspired his team to victory. Just in the first half, the forward dropped 13 points. By the end of the contest, he earned a team-high 23 points, plus 6 rebounds and two blocks over 35 minutes of play.

“Just trying to stay aggressive, trying to do whatever I can to get over the hump and get this win,” he told the press after the win. “We’re desperate. We need every win we can get.”

.@legsespn reacts to Draymond Green being ejected less than four minutes into Warriors-Magic.

“The only word that popped in my head is selfish. This is a selfish move to do this to your team when they desperately have to have you.” pic.twitter.com/Y7Fch9myPr

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 28, 2024

“He won us the game tonight – plain and simple,” Curry added. “I’m just proud of the way he took that challenge on, that he was assertive and aggressive. Whether he makes or misses shots, I could (not) care less. It’s just the ability for him to just be aggressive and take the shots that he knows he can take, put the pressure on the room, he’s knocking down 3s. Like everything. He had the whole bag working tonight.”

Their coach acknowledged how Golden State came back from a difficult situation. “It was a gutsy effort in tough circumstances, back-to-back, losing Draymond early” coach Steve Kerr shared. “And the guys just competed for 48 (minutes). Obviously, we need every game we could get right now so that’s why everybody was pretty emotional.”