draymond-green-warriors-getty-2.jpg
Getty Images

Draymond Green is no stranger to technical fouls, but the Golden State forward got one in an unusual manner on Saturday. 

Halfway through the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Green appeared to have shoved Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell while he ran to the basket as teammate Caris LeVert went for a layup. However, nothing came out of this. 

Mitchell retaliated soon after when Green had the ball, running straight at him. That's when things got interesting. Officials were reviewing the incident for a long time for a flagrant foul on Mitchell. Once they were done, they announced Mitchell would receive a common foul, but they stated that Green's previous uncalled foul precipitated Mitchell's retaliation. 

Green, who had already gotten a technical in the second quarter, got his second technical of the night and was subsequently ejected.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has been in the NBA since being drafted as a player in 1988. However, he said he had never seen something like this before.

"I had never heard of this rule, but apparently you can retroactively call a technical on someone from two plays before upon review," Kerr said.

He was then asked how he felt about it, but he decided not to publicly criticize the officials.

"I had no idea," he said. "There are lots of plays I would like to go back to from three years ago. I don't know, that was bizarre."

Green led the NBA in technicals last season with a total of 21, and 10 games into this season he has already collected three. He was asked about his thoughts on this one, but unlike Kerr, he said he was not surprised.

"I am the same person that got suspended from the NBA Finals for flagrant fouls that were all called from after the game," Green told ESPN" ...nothing surprises me."

Green would later respond publicly with a post on his Instagram story, pushing back against fans for criticizing him

The Warriors were not the only team unhappy with officiating this weekend. On Friday, Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins called officiating "f---ing atrocious" after his team's 127-121 loss to the Utah Jazz.