Even counseling and mandatory league intervention appear to have met their match in Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green. Following his latest ejection during the Warriors’ 116–113 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center, the former Warriors players on Gil’s Arena could not find a way to take Green’s latest outburst seriously. While most, like Stephen A. Smith, want Green to avoid getting ejected, Gilbert Arenas threw up his hands in total resignation and told the league to let the Warriors veteran be himself.
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During the third quarter on Monday night, Green became tangled in the lane with the young 7-foot-1 Suns center Khaman Maluach. After Maluach knocked Green to the floor while going up to the rim, Green jumped up, grabbed the Suns player from behind, and “body-slammed,” as Arenas put it, Maluach to the court.
When Phoenix forward Dillon Brooks rushed over to confront Green, Green grabbed Brooks by the jersey and put his hands near his neck, resulting in a brief scuffle where teammates and refs had to get Green to let go. It led to a double technical foul and his first ejection of the 2026–27 season. The 23rd regular-season ejection of his career.
Reacting to Green’s Jordan-milestone ejection on Gil’s Arena, Arenas, DeMarcus Cousins, and Nick Young abandoned any attempt to analyze or justify Green’s actions and declared that no amount of counseling or league discipline will alter his behavior on the floor.
“I know we’re supposed to be serious about Draymond’s behavior,” Arenas said after spending two minutes making the crew laugh with his imitation of Green’s antics. “But at this point, if therapy can’t help, hey, just let it go. Just let it go, f*** it. Draymond going to do Draymond.”
In fact, he tells the other players to “wear a mouthpiece, goddamn it,” and tells the league, “They should just have rules, you know how you have rules, Hey, rules on the court: if Draymond fouls you hard, don’t look at him, don’t speak to him, don’t touch him. At this point ain’t nothing you can do, man. He’s done it all.“
Green’s teammate from the 2018 championship season – when Dray had three ejections – Nick Young actually said, “This is actually the calm Draymond, ’cause he even said he went to therapy and s***…” Then Swaggy shrugged, “so… that therapy s*** don’t work.”
Another one of Green’s teammates who also built a reputation as an enforcer, DeMarcus Cousins added his own raw assessment of Green’s rep. “I mean, it’s f***ing Draymond, we know what this dude do, man. Bite the s*** out of you, scratch your eyes out, slap your mom.”
The panel also poked fun at Green’s tendency to lock horns with international opponents, noting that both Maluach (South Sudan) and Brooks (Canada) fit the profile. Green previously had dust-ups with Frenchman Rudy Gobert. Arenas lightheartedly tagged Green an “American watchdog,” which left the crew wheezing.
That time too, Arenas insisted Green should not be stopped.
“Hey listen, like what you do notice is when Draymond goes, don’t interrupt. It’s like a young dog, man. Like don’t put your hand in that dog food,” Arenas warned, miming Green grabbing Brooks by the throat.
While most wouldn’t agree with them advocating for Green to invite ejections, the altercation completely shifted momentum at Chase Center. Prior to his ejection, Green logged four points and four rebounds in 17 minutes.
However, the remaining Warriors rallied behind Stephen Curry, who erupted for 18 points in the third quarter alone to finish with a game-high 34 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.
Complemented by Brandin Podziemski’s 20 points and a career-high 19 points from backup center Charles Bassey, the Warriors erased the early deficit to secure the 116–113 win and improve to 5–3 on the season. Devin Booker led Phoenix with 26 points, while Brooks added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Curry directly credited Green’s ejection for resetting them mid-game. “He lit a fire in all of us and we had to respond,” Steph said after the game, perhaps cementing what the Gil’s Arena crew feels.
Given Green’s extensive history of league discipline and past suspensions, league executives are expected to review the film to determine whether additional fines or a multi-game suspension will be handed down.
For Arenas and the Gil’s Arena crew, however, the verdict is already in: the NBA needs to adjust to Draymond Green.