Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected for choking Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and putting him in a headlock on Tuesday.
After the game, Gobert said that he knew Green would get ejected because Stephen Curry wasn’t playing. According to Gobert, during games Curry is not available, Green “doesn’t want to play” and will do “anything he can” to get ejected.
For The Win researched whether or not this claim has any validity whatsoever and as it turns out, Gobert might actually have a point.
Gobert called Green’s choke “clown behavior.” Said he knew as soon as he heard Steph was out, he knew Draymond was going to try to get ejected
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) November 15, 2023
Green has had 18 ejections since turning pro, according to Spotrac.
It is worth mentioning that the first seven ejections of Green’s career, between 2013 and 2019, all occurred during games in which Curry was active.
The first time Green was ever ejected when Curry was sidelined wasn’t until Nov. 11, 2019. Curry was out due to a broken hand after an ugly fall during the previous month.
Green received two technical fouls during this game for Golden State. The French big man probably noticed Curry’s absence, though, because the game was a Warriors loss against the Jazz, then led by Gobert.
Draymond Green returned from a finger injury Monday night only to earn the first ejection at the new Chase Center. https://t.co/7QCzXVOMjq
— USA TODAY NBA (@usatodaynba) November 12, 2019
Following that ejection, the subsequent four ejections of Green’s career all happened while Curry was not available.
Green was also ejected while Curry was inactive on Jan. 4, 2020 (vs. DET), Feb. 27, 2020 (vs. LAL), Feb. 20, 2021 (vs. CHA), March 20, 2022 (vs. SAS) and Jan. 4, 2023 (vs. DET).
So including Tuesday’s discipline, seven of Green’s last 11 ejections occurred during games in which Curry didn’t play. That feels significant!
