Draymond Green criticizes lack of ‘respect’ of officials in Pistons loss

SAN FRANCISCO– Draymond Green was not happy with how the officials were doing interacted with him after Golden State Warriors‘ 131-124 loss to the Detroit Pistons. After the game, Green blasted referee JT Orr for putting his hand in his face while arguing about a missed call on Isaiah Stewart holding him down while Green made a cut in the paint.

“I find it very ironic that I got a technical record that I told a Caucasian referee not to put his hand in my face,” Green said. “As a black man in America, don’t put your hand in my face. And I said, ‘Hey, don’t put your hand in my face.’ And I have to deal with technique. So I thought that was the highlight of the night. Next to my gravel.”

The interaction occurred around 8:44 in the second quarter after head coach Steve Kerr challenged the call for a near foul. The events Green recounted appear to have occurred when he followed Orr as he walked to the referee’s table to review the play, and Green continued to argue about the missed call, prompting Orr to hand him his 10th technical foul of the season.

“Everybody wants to talk about respect; that line has to be held both ways,” Green continued. “If the line isn’t held both ways, then the line won’t be held out of my way either. Because we’re all men. We can all make decisions and choices. Let it be the last time.”

Draymond Green’s history with officials

Green said he argued with Orr and the officials before the technology came out about the Pistons getting away with potential delay calls. He pointed to Ausar Thompson holding the ball after made baskets to prevent the Warriors from getting the ball out quickly. Green went a step further by saying that Steph Curry did a similar thing on the opposite sideline that caused a delay against the Warriors, noting the double standard.

“The same referee, JT Orr, he’s like, ‘Oh, well, you might have a point,'” Green told. No shit, that’s the rule. I can’t change a rule in the middle of a game. So yes, that was the conversation… Unfortunately, the rules change from person to person.”

Draymond Green blasted the referees for a technical foul tonight:

“It’s very ironic that I got a technical foul because I told the Caucasian referee not to put your hand in my face. As a black man in America, don’t put your hand in my face.”

Full soundtrack: pic.twitter.com/TH92Cv3iSO

— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) January 31, 2026

With this technical foul, Green is six minutes away from receiving an automatic one-game suspension under the NBA’s technical foul count policy. Green clearly had a history with the officials, given the 209 technical fouls he accumulated during his career. Green has long felt as if the judges were judging him differently on the merits his reputation.

“I’ve had interactions with all of them,” Green said briskly to laughter from reporters, giving a nice bow with his final comments on the incident.