Draymond Green reveals what heckling Pelicans fan said to spark confrontation originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Draymond Green heard the trash talk from a New Orleans Pelicans fan on Sunday night, and he had something to say in response.
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Following the Warriors’ 124-106 win over the Pelicans, Green addressed the odd scene that occurred at Smoothie King Center.
“He just kept calling me a woman,” Green told reporters in New Orleans (h/t The San Francisco Chronicle’s Sam Gordon). “It was a good joke at first, but you can’t keep calling me a woman. I got four kids, one on the way. Can’t keep calling me a woman. Yeah, he got quiet, though. So it’s fine.”
Green explained how the fan’s tone changed once the Warriors forward approached him.
“Well, he was talking at first, and then you get a little closer. And he didn’t really say much else. But no, it’s fine, we’ll move on.
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“Yeah, he just kept calling me a woman’s name and I am not … Do I look like a woman? Do I look like a woman? … Lisa Leslie was a good rebounder, too. She’s older than me, you know, but she don’t be disrespectful. It’s cool. We move on.”
Following a Warriors’ foul late in the second quarter, Green walked up to the fan along the baseline and exchanged words with him. Referee Courtney Kirkland quickly intervened and de-escalated the situation before it could get physical.
Green praised Kirkland’s actions.
“He just told me, ‘I got it. I’ve heard him over and over and over again. You’ve handled it well. Don’t get yourself in no trouble. I’ll take care of it.’ Courtney was great,” Green told reporters.
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Warriors coach Steve Kerr had no issue with how Green handled the situation.
“As long as it doesn’t escalate, it’s fine to go over and have a discussion,” Kerr told reporters. “I had no problem with it. It would have been nice if security had gotten there a little bit earlier … it’s hard to comment on it because I don’t know what was said.”
Arena security approached the fan and reportedly gave him a card indicating that he had been warned.
The Warriors picked up their third consecutive road win, beating a Pelicans team that didn’t have star forward Zion Williamson and former Golden State guard Jordan Poole, and just fired coach Willie Green on Saturday.
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Even with Steph Curry in the building, the vibe from Pelicans fans was muted — aside from Green’s heckler.
But winning any road game makes Green happy.
“I love it,” Green told reporters. “I love disrespect on the road because, you know, we win a lot. Not this year, we haven’t won a lot, but we usually win a lot on the road. So quieting a home crowd is always fun. This crowd wasn’t too loud to begin with, so, yeah.”
Green wasn’t penalized in the moment for the incident and he likely won’t face any punishment from the league.
In the end, cooler heads prevailed before something really bad happened.
