The Golden State Warriors ended the 2025-26 campaign with drama, with Draymond Green right at its heart. With 1:06 left and the Warriors down by double digits to the Phoenix Suns, the 36-year-old veteran delivered a hard foul on Devin Booker during an inbound play. Now, the stoppage turned tense, with game referee Scott Foster ejecting both players. But the real drama unfolded when social media claimed that Green punched Booker in his core.

Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, the 2017 DPOY, rejected such viral claims. “Devin Booker told Scott Foster that I punched him in the stomach, which is a lie. Number one, a punch is with a closed fist. Number two, it’s very obvious I was taking a foul,” Green said. “So, Scott Foster goes to review it, realizes I didn’t punch him in the stomach, and he calls an away-from-the-play foul. Guy’s passing the ball. So I’m not sure how it’s away from the play.”

Green then criticized the referee’s judgment. He suggested Foster made a call to assert control rather than because a real foul occurred. He believes there wasn’t enough contact to justify a flagrant or technical, and the “away-from-the-play” foul felt unnecessary and illogical to him, implying the decision lacked consistency and didn’t match what actually happened on the court.

“However, I was standing on the sideline, and Book was shooting a free throw, and I was saying, ‘Yo, Book, I punched you?’ And I just kept saying, ‘So, I punched you, you know?’ and he didn’t want to answer,” the Warriors veteran narrated. “And so I kept asking him, and then finally he was like, ‘Uh, man, I said I moved on, Dray. I ain’t know. I said I moved on.’ And I asked again, ‘So I punched you?’ He got a little testy and started making some comments. So, I made some comments back to him, but make no mistake about it, man.”

Despite the on-court drama, Draymond Green assured that there is no bad blood between him and the Suns star. “Book, that’s my young fella. Always have been. That relationship stems back to Book being in high school. And ain’t nothing going to change that relationship,” Green said. “We had that moment. What really pissed me off was we got ejected. We weren’t cursing at each other or anything. We were talking back and forth.”

Now, two days after the incident, audio of the exact moment went viral. And well, one could say, that it was the probable reason behind the fallout which led to the stars’ ejection.

Audio from the Draymond Green-Devin Booker clash

With under a minute left in the fourth and Phoenix firmly in control, Draymond Green suddenly rushed at Devin Booker as he brought the ball up. What followed? Green’s alleged punch. With his action, Green slyly stopped the flow, buying time as Stephen Curry and Al Horford headed off. Meanwhile, Booker stayed ice-cold, drilling the technical free throw after the off-ball call. Then, tensions boiled over as both stars traded heated words near the Warriors’ bench.

“I punched you?” Green asked Booker from across the court. “Sit the f— down,” the 29-year-old Suns star clapped back. “Don’t do that… you ain’t like that, Book,” Draymond further said. But Booker was also in a no-nonsense mood. He fired back, “Come on, n—-.” So did Green. “Shut your soft a– up… you know you ain’t like that,” he said.

Thus, the leaked audio lays bare the spark. Draymond Green, clearly irritated as things slipped away, poked at Devin Booker to test his edge. However, Booker’s calm, almost dismissive reply shifted the narrative at that moment. It hit deeper than expected. Consequently, what followed felt sharper, as a rattled veteran clashed with a poised, playoff-ready star holding his ground.

This story now ended with clarity, not chaos. Draymond Green firmly shut down the punch narrative and questioned the call, while standing by his version of events. Meanwhile, Devin Booker held his ground through the tension. It was a brief clash, not a broken bond, and both walked away without lingering damage.