Draymond Green Fined $50,000 By NBA For Questioning The Integrity Of League Officials

Draymond Green has already been the center of some negative controversy during the ongoing NBA finals, but now, things have gotten much worse.

On May 14, NBA officials announced that Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was being hit with a hefty fine for a comment he made about the referees on the sidelines of an earlier game.

In a press release from the league, Green, 35, received a hefty $50,000 fine for "making an inappropriate comment that questions the integrity of game officials" during the Warriors' 102-97 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the playoff series.

After fouling out of the game with less than five minutes remaining, cameras caught Green, who's known for his problematic behavior on the court, telling his teammates that the point spread was 5.5. At the time, the Timberwolves were leading the Warriors 102-94 with 15 seconds remaining.

When the ball was back in play, the Warriors took two 3-pointers, with Jonathan Kuminga hitting one, making the final score 102-97.

Green's fine isn't the first time he's been in hot water with the league. According to SportRac, the 6'6" power forward has been fined $992,000 in his career, with $185,000 of that due to his actions toward game officials.

During an early May 2025 game against Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves' star player, Green received a technical foul (his fifth of the playoff series) that sent him over the edge.

After the official call, Green aggressively approached the referees, telling them their decision was "bullsh-t" before his teammates attempted to calm him down.

In the locker room after the game, the father of four addressed his behavior and slammed the "agenda" he believes has been created to make him look like an "angry Black man."

"Looked like the angry Black man," he said to reporters. "I'm not an angry Black man. I am a very successful, educated Black man with a great family, and I am great at basketball and great at what I do."

He continued, "The agenda to try to keep making me look like an angry Black man is crazy. I'm sick of it. It's ridiculous."

Per SportRac, between 2016 and 2023, Green was suspended from the league six times and fined over $3 million. His most recent mishap occurred in December 2023 during the Warriors' game against the Phoenix Suns.

During the game, Green threw his elbow back, striking Jusuf Nurkic in the face. The league stated in the official press release that Green would be suspended indefinitely until he met "certain league and team conditions."

Green apologized for his actions on the court, explaining that he was attempting to sell a foul call. However, in February 2024, during the teams' first matchup following the December incident, the two bigs got into it once more.

Following the game, Nurkic told reporters that Green's antics were "sad" and that he didn't deserve another "chance" in the league.

“It's sad,” Nurkic said after the game. “He didn't learn anything, man. Just a matter of time. He's going to knock somebody else again. Take everything back what I said. He don't deserve a chance."

On the "Draymond Green Podcast," Green slammed Nurkic for his comments and branded him a "coward."

“The little guy went into the media complaining like I did something to him, as if he didn’t do the ‘too small’ celebration, and then he starts to question my character,” Green said. “What a coward. You go questioning character about a basketball game you just lost that you got destroyed in. The only thing you should talk about his how you got punished.”

In November 2024, Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball was fined $100,000 for making what the league described as an "anti-gay" slur while recounting a play with Milwaukee Bucks' star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The 23-year-old addressed his comment shortly after and apologized for potentially offending any watchers. "I really didn't mean anything [by it]," he said, per ESPN. "I've got love for everybody, and I don't discriminate."