Draymond Green’s suspension for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, triggered by a retroactively assessed flagrant foul after an incident with LeBron James, was a pivotal moment that allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seize momentum and complete a historic 3-1 comeback, costing the Warriors a championship. Green points to the NBA’s disciplinary process, overseen by Commissioner Adam Silver, as unfairly targeting him due to his reputation, a pattern he believes persists in other postseason incidents. This article explores Green’s claims, his lack of regret, and his evolving respect for LeBron James, substantiated by game data and public statements.

But nearly a decade later, Draymond Green is still fuming. And this time, he’s naming names, pointing his finger directly at NBA commissioner Adam Silver. On The Tylil Show, Draymond Green didn’t hold back when talking about the controversial suspension that turned the Finals on its head. And he laid it all out without ambiguity. “The reason I missed the game, I got upgraded to a flagrant foul. And it gave me an accumulation of flagrant foul points, bro,” he Said.

Draymond continued, “Every flagrant foul point I had during that playoff was assessed to, including that one, was assessed to me after the game. Meaning go back and review tape, we’re upgrading this foul to a flagrant. Every single point I have was given to me after the game. Not one of them was called during the game.” That Game 5 turned into a rout without Green: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each poured in 41 points as Cleveland beat Golden State 112–97 and forced the series to shift. The momentum change from that night remains the fulcrum of the 2016 narrative.

Green’s frustration is rooted in how the NBA handled his fouls retroactively, instead of calling them in real-time. In the moment, the refs let the play go. Later, the league reviewed the tape and retroactively penalized him. This final upgrade, coming after his run-in with LeBron in Game 4, pushed him over the limit and earned him a one-game suspension. The headline facts are straightforward and well-documented: Golden State went 73–9 in the 2015–16 regular season, entered the Finals up 3–1, then lost three straight.

The Warriors were without their defensive anchor in a must-win Game 5. LeBron and Kyrie Irving went nuclear, both dropping 41 points. The Cavs took the game. The rest is history. Green has always played with fire. His on-court incidents, kicking Steven Adams, clashing with Blake Griffin, punching LeBron, and later stepping on Domantas Sabonis, have built a reputation that precedes him. And Green knows it.

During Kai Cenat’s stream, Green revisited his stomp on Sabonis and called out how the league “doesn’t want you to see” the part where Sabonis grabs his ankle. The suspension that followed was, once again, assessed after the game. Green’s point? The NBA is reacting to his name. The 2016 kick on Steven Adams was reviewed and upgraded after the fact, and the league later suspended him for the 2023 incident when he stepped on Domantas Sabonis. Those episodes feed Green’s argument that the league’s review apparatus frequently reassigns culpability in ways that fall particularly hard on him.

Draymond is in awe of James

There’s no denying it, that Draymond Green respects greatness. And to him, LeBron James is the greatest. In a stream with Tylil and Kai Cenat, Green made his stance clear. He tore down the comparison between Jordan and LeBron by dragging his own coach into it “MJ had Pippen, Bron was winning games with Matthew Dellavedova… that guy STINKS. No disrespect. MJ’s equivalent to Matthew Dellavedova as a teammate was probably Steve Kerr.” Draymond wasn’t being subtle. He pointed out how LeBron revived careers that the league had already thrown away. “They threw the towel on JR Smith,” Draymond said. “Bron saw value. That’s leadership.”

No one has forgotten 2016. LeBron’s 3-1 comeback was the stuff of legend. But what’s crazy is how open Draymond is about his own role in that collapse. He’s said it before, his Game 5 suspension changed the course of that series. He’s owned that. “F*** no,” Draymond replied when asked if he regretted kicking LeBron. “If you fall down and you’re getting up, and I put my leg on top of your shoulder, what are you going to do? I will never regret that. I wouldn’t want my son to think that if somebody does that to him, it’s OK.”

Warriors fans might be shaking their heads. That suspension cracked the door open for LeBron and Kyrie to break the 73-9 Warriors. Game 5 without Draymond was a momentum shift. The Cavs never looked back. Draymond knows it. He’s not backing down, though. By shifting the conversation, calling out Adam Silver and the league’s discipline system, he suggested that suspension wasn’t just about the act, but about who he was and how he’s perceived. He believes it cost him a ring, a Finals MVP, maybe even a spot on the NBA 75.

Meanwhile, his relationship with LeBron? That has evolved “Bron used to be like, ‘Man, why you guys dealing with this dude?’” Draymond shared. But as they spent time around Rich Paul and Maverick Carter, things changed. “We started to build a relationship because I realized dang, bro is really just like me. He uses the same lingo I use. He’s from a place just like me. And we started to build from there. But it started off hectic.” Now? They’re tight. The Instagram Stories prove it. LeBron posted a dinner photo, his name and Draymond’s on a tabletop sign. 

Their bond is philosophical. After LeBron bashed “ring culture” on Mind the Game, Draymond echoed him word for word on The Pivot Podcast, defending guys like Chris Paul and Allen Iverson.

Draymond’s legacy is complicated. He’s a four-time champion, a Defensive Player of the Year, and arguably the greatest glue guy the NBA has ever seen. Someday he’ll be in the Hall of Fame. So will LeBron. And watching those two former rivals now move in sync, whether on podcasts, Instagram, or maybe even the court, tells you one thing that respect is the currency they both deal in.