NEW YORK — The NBA announced on Saturday that Draymond Green’s foul against Memphis player Zach Edey during the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors’ recent win over the Grizzlies has been upgraded to a category-one flagrant foul following a review of the incident.
The foul occurred with 7:06 remaining in the third quarter of Friday’s game, which Golden State won 123-118. Initially, Green was only assessed a personal foul after he lost his footing on a drive and fell near Edey’s legs.
In the process, Green seemed to swing his left leg out while on the floor and restricted Edey’s movement by trapping his ankle with his elbow against his side. This led to Edey tripping over Green’s extended leg, resulting in the original personal foul being called.
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins commented after the game, expressing his disappointment that the play was not reviewed despite the apparent foul. “Draymond grabs his leg and pulls him down and it doesn’t get reviewed. I know there’s a code in this league and I don’t understand how that wasn’t reviewed. Very disappointing,” Jenkins stated.
Had the foul been classified as flagrant at the time, the Grizzlies would have received two free throws along with possession of the ball. Instead, it was ruled a transition-take foul, granting Memphis one free throw and retaining possession.
Edey, commenting on the incident, remarked, “It wasn’t a basketball play, if that’s what you’re asking. Definitely wasn’t a basketball play.”
Green later faced further disciplinary repercussions during the game, receiving two technical fouls in just 33 seconds in the fourth quarter, which led to his ejection with 1:14 left on the clock. Warriors coach Steve Kerr indicated he did not receive a clear explanation for the second technical foul assessed to Green.
“I don’t need an explanation,” Green stated after recording 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the contest. “I did my job. My job was done for the night. Moving on.”
Last season, Green received an indefinite suspension from the league, resulting in 16 missed games, following an incident where he struck Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face. The league attributed the suspension to Green’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts,” which came shortly after he served a five-game ban for a previous altercation involving Minnesota center Rudy Gobert.