The myth of Draymond Green was shattered early in the second quarter Wednesday. Grant Williams bodychecked the loudmouthed instigator to the ground and then taunted him on his way up.
"My bad!," Williams mouthed as he threw his hands into the air — as if pummeling Green was some sort of honest mistake.
Who's the bozo now?
The Celtics exposed Green as a total fraud in their 116-100 Game 3 win over the Warriors at TD Garden. Green was comfortable antagonizing the Celtics on the West Coast, but folded in front of a hostile crowd. Fans were chanting "f— you Dray-mond!" all night long.
After the game, Steve Kerr and Klay Thompson bemoaned the vulgarity. "What about the children?!," Thompson cried.
Green's wife complained as well.
The basketball bully who has a history of kicking his opponents in the groin was so embarrassed, he needed his wife, coach and teammate to scold Celtics fans for swearing.
That's almost as weak as Green's stat line: 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 fouls.
In the words of Isiah Thomas, Green played a "grade school game." Those stars from the 80s and 90s whom he derided as soft are about to get their revenge.
Green puts on quite the act. As the league's first ever active player-broadcaster, he performs for the cameras and is always willing to provide a color quote.
That is, if Green thinks his brand can benefit from it. When a reporter questioned him about his prolific podcasting, the boisterous talking head was no longer so affable.
Green laughed in the writer's face and repeatedly went back on the attack — even after their exchange was over.
It was the definition of a front-running move. When the Warriors win, Green is more than happy to yuck it up and brag about receiving leeway from officials.
"I've earned deferential treatment," Green said Sunday. "And I enjoy that. I embrace that."
It was a different story Wednesday. The officials were on Green and Golden State early, with Steph Curry raking up four fouls before the fourth quarter.
There was an unsatisfying whiff of orchestration behind all of the whistles. The NBA's fixer, Scott Foster, was assigned to the game.
But Green brought the foul parade on himself. Antoine Walker was right: Green made a big mistake exposing the refs' biased officiating.
Green opted for the quote over his own game. Sounds about right.
Earlier in the week, Green dismissed the efforts of Boston's role players in Game 1, including Marcus Smart. On Wednesday, Smart held Green to just two points on 17 possessions.
Ouch.
There was a time when Green was the Warriors' emotional leader. He was a vital component of three championship teams and one of the most tenacious defenders in the league.
But now, he's just a paper tiger with a podcast.
