Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was fined $50,000 by the NBA for commenting and questioning the integrity of game officials in the team’s 102-97 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3.
The league announced a disciplinary action on Wednesday, May 14, citing Green’s behavior after a foul in the late fourth quarter.
The fine stems from Green’s comments after his sixth individual foul with 4:38 remaining in the game. When he sat on the bench during the pause, the radio camera caught him citing a 5.5-point betting spread that had been widely reported by sports betting before the game. In comments, the Timberwolves led 102-94 with only 15.2 seconds left.
Although Green’s remarks were not made public in the post-match press conference, the league believes the hint is a damage to the view of hosting integrity. Sources confirmed to ESPN’s Shams Charania that the fine was clearly associated with Green’s gambling odds, while suggesting that game officials affected the results.
The final moment of the game brought the Warriors two 3-pointers, including a successful shot from Jonathan Kuminga, with 5.3 seconds left to narrow the gap to five points, which exactly matched the relevant differences.
This latest fine adds Green’s long history of discipline issues in the league. He currently leads all players with five technical fouls in the playoffs and will be automatically single-game if he reaches 7. He also accumulated two fouls in the playoffs.
Green was fined nearly $1 million during his NBA career, with $185,000 of which is related to actions against officials, according to Spotac, a salary tracking site. His suspension cost him another $3.2 million in salary.
The incident has attracted constant attention to the behavior of sports betting players, a growing industry with increasing integration with professional sports leagues.
