CLEVELAND — There is nothing unusual about Draymond Green getting whistled for a technical foul.
But it’s quite the exception when the Warriors’ volatile forward seemingly has a technical wiped off the books.
The confusion arose with 3:16 left in the third quarter of Game 4 on Friday night when Green was hit with a technical foul for arguing with the officials and just about everyone in the arena thought that meant he would be ejected, since he’d been called for a technical with 1:55 left in the first quarter and two in the same game gets you the boot.
Following a sideline conference, game officials Mike Callahan, John Goble and Marc Davis said a flagrant foul had been called on Green, but the first half technical had been on Golden State coach Steve Kerr.
However, the halftime box score listed the first technical on Green. ESPN sideline reporter Doris Burke reported that the official scorer’s table was told that the first technical had been on Green. Later in the telecast, play-by-play man Mike Breen said he talked to officials during a timeout and was given the proper call.
The public address man at Quicken Loans Arena had announced that the first technical was on Green and no correction or explanation was ever given to the crowd when Green remained in the game.
The halftime box score clearly listed Green with the first violation. The correction was not made until the end of the third quarter.
Green was given a flagrant foul in the final minutes of Game 4 a year ago and was subsequently suspended for Game 5.
“I thought they called it on Draymond. I thought I deserved it,” Kerr said. “But I thought I heard the PA announcer say it was on Draymond. So then I thought the second one Draymond was going to get kicked out, but they explained the first one was on me.
“Last year was last year, this year is this year,” said Kerr. “I’m pretty sure Draymond won’t get suspended for Game 5.”
After the game, NBA Officials Mike Callahan and John Goble met with pool reporter Brian Mahoney (Associated Press). Here is the transcript of that interview:
Q: Can you explain what happened in the third quarter?
Callahan: “When the technical foul was called on Draymond Green, we reported it to the table. The table informed us that it was his second technical foul and ejected. We informed the table that it was not his second technical foul.”
Q: When did you become aware that the one that you called on Kerr, which John that was you, had been charged to Green?
Callahan: “We found out at the same time when we called the first technical foul (6:18, 3rd) on Draymond Green. That’s when we were informed by the table.”
Q: When you actually called the one on Kerr, how did you explain it to the table and everything?
Goble: “After calling the loose ball foul on Draymond Green, I noticed the reaction by Coach Kerr and then assessed the technical foul. In the moment, I thought I had verbalized to the table that the technical foul was on Coach Kerr. After looking at the video, I did not verbalize to the table, and looking at the video, I should have done a better job of making sure that the table knew the technical foul was on Coach Kerr.”
Q: What is the usual procedure for making sure that it has been logged correctly by the scorer?
Callahan: “The procedure is to advise the table who the technical foul is on and with the player we give a number. With a coach or trainer, we just verbalize and at that time we should listen to the PA announcer to who it is on. At that time, we did not do a very good job of listening to the PA announcer and we did not hear him announce it. I take full responsibly for that.”
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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