Draymond Green Wants NBA & Legislators To Create Laws To Protect Players After He Says Fan Allegedly Threatened His Life
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Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green told media that a fan threatened his life during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. The Bucks say they are investigating the incident along with the league.
The incident allegedly happened when a member of the Bucks was at the free-throw line. Videos show Green and a fan talking back-and-forth with one another.
The fan said “some threatening stuff to my life,” Green told reporters. “I was this close to really going back and diving all the way in, but just went back and told the official. And when I told the official, he said, ‘he’s got to get out of here.'”
Security then removed the man who was seated just a few rows behind the court.
“Green discussed the incident with the referees, who contacted Fiserv Forum security,” according to CBS Sports Reporter Jack Maloney.
Green wants the league to work with lawmakers to better protect athletes in these types of situations where fans cross the line.
“You hope it gets to a point to where these leagues can work with legislators to implement laws, because that’s the only thing that’s gonna ultimately correct the issue is if you know something real is gonna happen to you.”
Green said there are no real consequences for fans harassing or even physically targeting players by throwing things onto the court. Even when fans are arrested and charged, they usually face misdemeanors and rarely serve time in jail, instead receiving fines or probation. However, teams do typically ban fans from stadiums following aggressive action toward players.
“It’s no different than when you see people come on the field and run on the court. People are just doing it for attention because there’s no real consequence. Alright, you can’t go back to the game, but even if you get arrested, nothing really happens. You may have a $500 bond or something, but nothing really happens.”
Green expressed frustration with the fact that sometimes players get disciplined for reacting to aggressive or disrespectful fans. Two weeks ago, he was fined $25,000 by the NBA “for directing obscene language toward a fan,” during Golden State’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. Back in May, Green was fined $25,000 for flipping off a Grizzlies fan and said he would gladly accept the fine. The month before, Kyrie Irving was also fined $50,000 for a similar action.
“I make $25 million a year,” Irving said at the time. “I should be just fine.”
“We’re human beings,” Green said. “That’s the part I get frustrated with. I know it’s not an issue that the league ignores. I don’t think that’s the case. I know they spend a ton of time on it. Quite frankly, people are gonna be people, they’re gonna say the things they want to say. You can put them out, and that’s great.”
The Bucks won the game and the team issued a statement saying,: “Under the referee’s discretion, we are investigating the situation and we are conferring with the NBA.”
Green scored two points and had six rebounds and seven assists in the loss.
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