For Draymond Green, Friday night against the Detroit Pistons crossed a line that had nothing to do with basketball. As always, he was efficient with 7 assists and 6 rebounds. However, all hell broke loose when game referee JT Orr handed the 35-year-old his 10th technical foul of the season. Green’s back-and-forth with referees is nothing new in the NBA. But in recent years, his interactions with officials have taken on a different tone.

He strongly challenged JT Orr’s handling of inbounds situations and framed the technical foul assessed at the 8:44 mark of the second quarter as a personal slight—one he felt crossed far beyond the boundaries of the game.

“I find it very ironic that I got a technical foul for telling a Caucasian referee not to put his hand in my face,” Green said, standing a few feet from his locker. “As a Black man in America, don’t put your hand in my face. I said, ‘Hey, don’t put your hand in my face,’ and I got a tech, so I thought that was the most interesting part of the night.”

Meanwhile, Green and Orr spent much of the quarter locked in an extended exchange. The back-and-forth continued even as Orr walked to the scorers’ table to initiate a replay review on a missed foul call on the Pistons.

“Draymond, this is your chance to stop talking to me,” Green recalled Orr telling him. He responded, “Bro, don’t put your hand in my face.” The 35-year-old Warriors veteran then recalled the ref’s verdict, “Oh, tech.”

As the night wore on, Detroit tightened its grip, with Cade Cunningham leading the push before sealing a 131-124 win. Meanwhile, the tension told a deeper story. This encounter added another chapter to a long-standing feud. Over the years, Green has repeatedly clashed with Orr, and league records support his frustration. The moment felt less isolated and more like a familiar pattern.

Meanwhile, Draymond Green is 6 techs away from receiving the inevitable one-game suspension. It would not be his first time. At the same time, both the Warriors’ big man and the referee remained locked in the dispute, only this time the Pistons star, Ausar Thompson, got involved.

Draymond Green and JT Orr’s argument over Ausar Thompson’s move

At the center of the dispute was how the referee handled possession after Detroit scored. Thompson repeatedly held the ball, which Green believed slowed the game. As a result, the forward kept pressing the issue even while the official reviewed a missed Pistons foul at the table.

“He told me that Ausar Thompson can hold the ball, and look to see who to give the ball to after a made basket, and he said that’s not a delay of the game,” Green claimed.

Draymond Green explained that Curry received a delay of game call after leaving in the third quarter with knee soreness for the same action Thompson was allowed to make. As he raised the inconsistency, the contrast became clear. According to Green, the referee responded awkwardly, which only strengthened his belief that the ruling lacked balance and clarity.

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“Same referee though, JT Orr. Then, he’s like ‘Oh, maybe you have a point,’” Green said. “No s—, you can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”

Well, stuck in an unwanted moment, Draymond Green didn’t hold back as he spewed his frustration over the match referee’s officiating. His claims of a ‘Caucasian’ official trying to handle him might seem off. As many fans and critics believe Green is manufacturing controversy.

However, at the end of the day, the Dubs picked their 23rd L of the season, further pushing them into the Play-In situation. If Green reaches his 16th technical foul and is suspended for a game, the situation would likely worsen.