NBA says Draymond Green not being singled out
The NBA wants to make one thing clear to Draymond Green in this déjà vu debate about unnatural acts: They're not picking on him.
One day after the Golden State Warriors forward vented at the league for its handling of his latest leg-flailing flagrant foul call, telling reporters “I didn’t know the league office was that smart when it came to body movements,” executive vice president of basketball operations and former player Kiki VanDeWeghe came to the defense of himself and his fellow competition committee colleagues.
Draymond Green earns Flagrant 1 for kicking James Harden in face
“Our rules are for every player,” VanDeWeghe told USA TODAY Sports. “We want each play judged according to the rules, as best possible, and the rules applied fairly across our whole league. That’s very important to us. We don’t make exceptions for players. They are applied to everybody.
“In Draymond’s particular case (against the Houston Rockets on Thursday), he had an arm flail which struck the player (James Harden) in the neck-head area. And then in addition to that, he had a kick up above the head of the defender. As he brought his leg down, his heel hit him in the face. It wouldn’t matter what player we’re talking about (it’s a foul).”
Considering the context, no one should be surprised that the two sides don’t see eye to eye.
Just six months ago, the league’s decision to retroactively assess Green with a Flagrant One foul for his unnatural punch at the groin of the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James as he stepped over Green in Game 4 of the NBA Finals led to his suspension in Game 5. Because Green had several similar incidents throughout the postseason that had also been ruled flagrant fouls, the suspension was the result of him exceeding the league's allowed flagrant point total for the playoffs. The rest is history, of course, with the Cavs taking over from there en route to their unprecedented comeback from a 3-1 series deficit. The situation sparked change in the offseason, when the league’s competition committee held two extensive meetings to discuss these kinds of movements and how they should be legislated.
“We spent a long time over two meetings looking at what I would just call unnatural acts,” VanDeWeghe said. “What came out was looking at, ‘What’s a natural movement in basketball? What’s a natural reaction in basketball?’ And then looking out for the safety of our players.
“Is an arm flail or a leg kick a natural act? And they were judged by not natural acts, depending on the severity, the angle, things like that. And is it an appropriate (reaction) to a foul or a fall, or things like that? Most of these are done to draw the attention of the referees. We noticed an uptick in these last year, and they needed to be addressed by the competition committee.”
But no matter what side of this debate you’re on, it’s important to note that longtime former players have a significant voice in the matter. Despite the fact that Green clearly believes he’s being singled out – he tweeted “Marked…” after the latest ruling – the notion that the people who put these rules into place know not of what they speak is patently unfair. He spoke to this on Saturday as well, sharing his misguided view on the matter.
“A lot of these guys that make the rules can’t touch the rim, yet they tell you how you’re way up there in the air which way your body (should go),” Green told reporters. “I don’t understand that. That’s like me going in there and saying, ‘Hey, you did something on your paperwork wrong.’ I don’t know what your paperwork looks like.”
In addition to league executives like VanDeWeghe, a player representative (sometimes NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, other times representatives like former player Roger Mason), a referee representative, and owners (among them Warriors owner Joe Lacob), the competition committee includes general managers like the Lakers’ Mitch Kupchak, and coaches like the Clippers’ Doc Rivers and the Dallas Mavericks’ Rick Carlisle, who had decades of playing experience.
“There’s a lot of basketball in there,” VanDeWeghe said.
What’s more, there is plenty of evidence that the new rules are being applied all over the league. Below is a list of the six other instances in which an "unnatural act" was penalized.
- On Oct. 26, Boston's Amir Johnson was given a flagrant foul in a game against Brooklyn (Luis Scola draws the flagrant).
- On Nov. 5, the Atlanta Hawks' Dwight Howard was given a technical foul midway through the fourth quarter of a game against his old Houston Rockets team.
- On Nov. 14, the Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook was given a technical foul when he kicked backwards on a jumpshot attempt and hit the Detroit Pistons' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
- On Nov. 18, the Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown was given a technical foul for flailing on a shot attempt against Golden State.
- On Monday, the Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart was given a Flagrant One for his unnatural movement by the league office after the fact (it was a no-call at the time): a kick to the groin of the Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside on a rebound.
- On Thursday, James was given a technical foul for his unnatural movement: a left arm strike to the head of the Clippers’ Alan Anderson during his drive to the basket.
Draymond Green defensive about Warriors defense
Green has shown no signs of changing his high-kicking ways, meaning this won’t be the last time he’s front and center on this issue. One game after facing the Rockets, he kicked the Phoenix Suns’ Marquese Chris in the backside while exaggerating contact while shooting. And like it or not, the NBA will be watching him – and everyone else – more closely than ever.
“We go to great lengths to make sure that the rules apply to everybody,” he said. “They just do.”