MILWAUKEE — Draymond Green said a fan threatened his life before the spectator was removed from the arena during the Warriors’ 128-111 loss in Milwaukee.
A fan taunted Green while Giannis Antetokounmpo took a pair of free throws at the 6:30 mark in the third quarter. About a minute later, when the game paused for Stephen Curry to take three free throws, Green led an official to the opposite end of the court and pointed at a fan sitting near the baseline.
The fan was immediately removed from his seat and escorted out of the arena.
After the game, Green said the fan said “some threatening stuff to my life.”
“I was this close to really going back, diving all the way in but I just went back and told an official,” Green said. “And when I told the official what he said, he’s like, ‘Oh, he’s gotta get out of here.'”
The Bucks said the removal of a fan is “under the referee’s discretion.” The organization plans to look further into the incident.
“We’re investigating the situation and we’re conferring with the NBA,” Bucks Chief Communication Officer Barry Baum said in a statement.
Green often finds himself as a target of opposing fans’ ire. He was cursed at and loudly booed during the NBA Finals this summer in Boston. More recently, Green was fined earlier this month for “directing obscene language toward a fan” during the Warriors’ 116-113 loss to the Mavericks in Dallas.
Stephen Curry commended Green’s composure following the incident.
“Draymond handled it the right way tonight — not take it upon himself to go protect himself,” Curry said. “One time that situation could go totally different way.”
Curry said this isn’t the first time he’s heard fans at Fiserv Forum says “wild stuff.”
“It sucks that was a part of any game or any arena in terms of fans crossing that line, leveraging the proximity to the court and all that to try to say whatever and think they can get away from it,” Curry said. “It was a distraction in terms of how long it took to handle the situation.”
But Milwaukee isn’t the only place fans cross the line.
Green and Curry said spectator misconduct during games is a league-wide issue. Green acknowledged that the NBA is doing what it can to protect players but both Warriors stars believe more needs to be done.
“This is such a great game, it’s such a great atmosphere, no matter what arena you show up in, guys are showing up, giving everything they have and put on a show, to provide that entertainment value and knowing that fans are paying their hard-owned money to watch us play, there should be a respect factor just inherent in terms of you coming into these buildings and handling yourself appropriately,” Curry said. “I don’t know what can be done in terms of consequences but there needs to be kind of a collective response to what that looks like.”
Green said he was aware flagging an official to fan misconduct has always been an option to avoid a costly fine. In some cases, though, he said he lets his emotions get the best of him.
“There are times where you’re just in the moment and you respond,” Green said. “We are human beings and there are times where you just respond. And try to learn from the mistakes but there’s still that human side, human element to it. Sometimes you’re just gonna respond.”
