Draymond Green Justifies Hard Foul on Khaman Maluach in Warriors-Suns Clash

Draymond Green has broken his silence on the hard foul that got him ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns.

On the Thursday edition of his podcast, Green justified his decision to throw down Suns center Khaman Maluach during Golden State’s 116–113 win.

The sequence started with Maluach trying to establish post position on Green.

Green fell to the floor during the battle for position.

After the fall, Green argued that throwing down Maluach “must happen.”

He believed that if he let Maluach score on him without any repercussions, Maluach and the Suns would lose respect for his defense.

“I can’t fall, and you score, and you just take off running back down the court — the story can’t end like that,” Green said on his show.

“You can’t anchor a defense if you’re going to let the story end like that.”

The foul came two minutes into the third quarter.

Green was whistled for a hard foul, then picked Maluach up and threw him to the floor after the whistle.

Officials called a technical foul for the throwdown.

Moments later, Dillon Brooks grabbed Green, and the two got into a scuffle.

When the dust settled, Green was given two technical fouls — one for the Maluach throwdown and one for the struggle with Brooks.

That meant Green was ejected from the game.

Brooks received one technical foul.

It was Green’s first ejection of the season, in the Warriors’ eighth game, and the 31st ejection of his NBA career.

Green finished the night with four points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 17 minutes.

Golden State held on for its fifth straight win behind 34 points from Stephen Curry.

In his postgame press conference, Brooks said Green was “tweaking” all game.

Green strongly disagreed with that characterization.

Green claimed Brooks said that to get people on his side.

Brooks also said he was trying to “de-escalate” the situation by grabbing Green.

Green once again disagreed.

“Miles Bridges was trying to de-escalate,” Green said.

“You weren’t trying to de-escalate. You were trying to be the villain. So, be that. But then don’t go to the media and be like, ‘I was de-escalating.’ That’s whack.”

Green added that he will not respect Brooks’ “energy” after the altercation.

“That type of energy will not ever be respected,” Green said.

The four-time NBA champion argued that the throwdown was necessary to protect his reputation as a defender.

“You must stand on that type of time as a big man,” Green said.

“If you don’t, your paint gets ran through, no rim protection cause there’s no respect after that, that’s gotta happen... so the next time you try something you gotta think about it.”

Green has become Golden State’s starting center this season, a position where reputation matters as much as technique.

In his view, a big man who lets a physical play go unanswered invites opponents to attack the paint all night.

The game stayed tense after Green left the floor.

Late in the fourth quarter, Charles Bassey tangled with Jalen Green on a rebound, and Miles Bridges ran in and shoved Bassey.

Officials gave Bridges a technical for escalating the situation.

Bassey was blunt about it, calling the Suns’ approach “fake toughness.”

The Warriors and Suns next play each other on Dec. 28.

That game is the back end of a back-to-back and the third game in four nights for Golden State.

It is widely expected that the Warriors will rest Stephen Curry and Green for that game.

The only other time these two teams play this season is April 6, in the last week of the regular season.

Green and Brooks have a long history before this incident.

The Warriors defeated Brooks’ Grizzlies and Rockets teams in the playoffs.