SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green became the first player in Chase Center history to be ejected from a game during Monday night’s 122-108 loss to the Utah Jazz.
Green, who returned to the lineup after missing five straight games because of a torn ligament in his left index finger, was ejected early in the fourth quarter after arguing a call. The play in question came with 8:28 left in the fourth quarter as Green thought he had taken a charge from Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley. Green immediately got up and waved his hand in front of his face, disagreeing with the call. He was whistled for his first technical and picked up a second after continuing to argue.
Prior to the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he was happy to have Green back to serve as a mentor for some of his younger players.
“We already felt it this morning, just his voice,” Kerr said. “That was the biggest thing on the road trip, just not having Draymond there, not having Steph, Klay, it was just strange looking out at the guys. I kept saying, ‘Where is everybody?’ Meaning, I thought we were waiting on two or three guys to start every meeting on the road trip. It’s like, ‘Where is everybody?’ I was saying it unironically. I was being dead serious. ‘Oh yeah, we only have nine guys.’ But it was just quiet. It was very quiet without Draymond as you could imagine.
“But our team, our young guys need his voice. They need the advice that he can offer. So at shootaround this morning we’re walking through a few things defensively. He’s there to provide the advice that the young guys need and that’s very reassuring as a coach. He’s basically a coach on the floor and we missed him while he was out.”