Draymond Green vents on technical foul calls and his 'expensive tooth'

OAKLAND, Calif. -- After the Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks 121-103 on Thursday evening, power forward Draymond Green voiced his frustration with the treatment he has been receiving from the officials.

"Yeah, I don't know what to do at this point," he said. "It really don't matter what I agree with. I don't have no power in this situation. Yeah, I don't know what to do at this point. It is what it is."

The three-time All-Star picked up his league-leading 14th technical foul four minutes into the second quarter. Green laid the ball in over Mavericks backup point guard Yogi Ferrell, and his momentum found him under the basket. The ball came down and ricocheted off Green's left shoulder, darting out of bounds. Referee Tre Maddox immediately issued the Warriors a delay-of-game warning. A shocked Green stood near half court with his arms stretched out, explaining to the official that the ball just hit his shoulder.

And then before turning away to get back on defense, Green waved him off. That's when Maddox hit him with the T.

"When you lay the ball in and you're standing right under the rim, it's probably going to hit you," Green said in an extended postgame rant. "It's just like physics. My body is a solid. Nothing is just going to [go] through me. It's not a video game. It may work like that in '[NBA] 2K' where like the ball may just like slide through my body, but not in real life. So it's probably going to hit me and when it hits me, gravity or whatever it is -- I'm not a scientist, but you get where I'm getting at. It's probably going to go another way. That's just how life works."

Warriors general manager Bob Myers addressed the team at morning shootaround, urging the players to limit the techs and to just play ball. Speaking to media after Friday's practice, coach Steve Kerr said, "The only thing I'll say is that Draymond is one of the most competitive people I've ever been around. I love his edge, I love his fire and we need that. And having to channel that can be difficult and that's the goal, and I'll leave it at that."

Green finished the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks in 32 minutes, but he made fun of his 4-of-17 shooting night.

"Maybe I should have missed the layup like I missed the rest of them, and then it wouldn't have hit me and then I wouldn't have gotten a delay-of-game and then I wouldn't have been told I threw an air punch and that's why I got a tech," Green continued. "So yeah, I don't know. I'll try to miss more layups. I missed a bunch of those tonight. So, it worked. I didn't get another tech. That's the goal. Miss more layups, don't let the ball hit me and then don't throw air punches, which I'm still trying to find where the air punch was."

Earlier in the day, Green was fined $50,000 for directing inappropriate and offensive language toward a game official during Tuesday's 125-105 loss to the Thunder. Referee Lauren Holtkamp hit him with a technical in that contest after the forward refused to get out of her face. Green was complaining about a missed call that resulted in his mouth bleeding and his tooth getting pushed back.

"The tooth thing is definitely something I can't control. I had to pay $500 to get it fixed, too," he said. "Like, my insurance didn't cover $500 of it. That's pretty upsetting. I got fined $50,000 for getting hit in it. That's pretty upsetting. So, it cost me $50,500 for getting hit in the tooth. That's great. It's amazing. That's an expensive tooth. I could have just got a fake one for less than that."

With the accumulation of technical fouls, Green has been fined a total of $153,000 for the season. He has been ultravocal about his disdain for some of the league's officials, even going as far to tell The Athletic that the NBA should get a "whole new crop" of referees. He was asked whether what occurred Thursday night is another example of the tension between referees and players.

"Probably, but it is what it is," Green responded. "I don't really care about communication with players and referees. On a better note, my son walked from the parking lot to the kid's room today, and that's like a really long walk. And he tried crying a few times, and I just said, 'Come on, man. You got it.' And he did, so that was amazing. Through the midst of getting fined $50,000 for getting hit in the tooth and getting a tech for air punching, my son has walked as far as he's walked in his life, and that's pretty incredible."