Draymond Green suspended for exceeding NBA's technical foul limit after bouncing ball off Russell Westbrook's head
Draymond Green was suspended Thursday by the NBA for exceeding the league's technical foul limit.
The Golden State Warriors forward will miss Friday's game against the Atlanta Hawks after his latest technical, his 16th of the season.
Green picked up the technical for an incident against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. With less than a minute remaining in the first half of the 134-126 Clippers win, Green bounced the ball off of Russell Westbrook's head following a Clippers bucket.
Draymond Green throws the ball at Russell Westbrook’s head & receives his 16th tech of the season 😭 pic.twitter.com/LZRzZzVwrA
— 𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘☘️ (@CelticsRepublic) March 16, 2023
Officials immediately whistled Green for a technical.
After the game, Green told reporters that he expected the technical foul to be rescinded.
"I think something will change," Green said. "If that's a tech, then every word you say on the court is a tech. We'll see."
“I expect something to change. I got one tech this year because a ref yelled at me and I said if i yell at you, I'm gonna get a fine. I got a tech for it. I think something will change.”
Draymond Green on his 16th tech and expected suspension Friday vs Hawks.
(via @TomerAzarly) pic.twitter.com/fhBoDdhU5o— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 16, 2023
The league apparently didn't take issue with Green's words, but the fact that he bounced the ball off an opponent's head. It did not rescind the technical.
NBA players and coaches are levied an automatic one-game suspension without pay after 16 technical fouls in a single season. Then they're immediately at risk of piling up more suspensions. Every two technical fouls after a 16th triggers another suspension without pay.
Green picked up his 16th technical in Golden State's 70th game of the season. They have 12 more games to go as the fight for positioning in the Western Conference playoffs. Wednesday's loss left them at 36-34, good for sixth place in a tightly packed conference race.