Draymond Green is making it clear that he’s fed up with the media painting him as an “angry Black man.” On Thursday (May 8) night, the power forward received his fifth technical foul of the playoffs, bringing him dangerously close — just two shy — to the seven-tech limit.
It happened during Golden State's Game 2 loss to Minnesota, when Green swung his arm and accidentally caught Naz Reid in the back of the head. As a result, the center went flying to the floor. After the incident, coach Steve Kerr removed the NBA star from the game, perhaps in an effort to prevent tensions from escalating.
Draymond Green believes there is an agenda to push a certain narrative about him
“I’m tired of the agenda to make me look like the angry Black man,” Green told reporters in the locker room post-game. “I’m a very successful, educated Black man with a great family, and I’m great at basketball and great at what I do.”
He continued, “The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I’m sick of it. It’s ridiculous.” Green definitely has a point. Yes, he brings a certain presence to the court, but there's a difference between critiquing a player’s style and pushing negative stereotypes, as we've already seen in coverage of Ja Morant.
Incidents from the past that impacted Draymond Green’s reputation
It’s certainly not the first time Green has found himself under the microscope for his behavior on the court. We all remember the notorious 2016 NBA Finals, when he got suspended for Game 5 after fouling LeBron James. Some people still argue that it cost the Warriors a championship.
Though it didn’t result in serious punishment, the Michigan native also got fined for punching teammate Jordan Poole during practice in 2022. Years later, in 2025, he publicly apologized for the incident on Twitter: “I really am sorry.”
Reducing him to the stereotype of an “angry Black man” is both oversimplifying and unfair to how much he’s done for the Warriors across his career. His teammates seemingly agree, too. “Someone got hit, but it's crazy. Every time he does something, it's always a review and always ends up being something of that nature,” Jimmy Butler said, per ESPN.