Stan Van Gundy: ‘I feel bad for Draymond Green’

Yup, that’s Draymond Green. You might be wondering how he got here. And Stan Van Gundy might be the only one who feels bad for him.

Green was fouled by Rockets guard Fred VanVleet late in the first half of the Golden State Warriors Game 7 win in Houston Sunday night. And somehow, the fairly innocuous reach in foul caused Green to jump in the air while swinging both his arms and legs, punching VanVleet in the neck and knocking him to the ground.

As officials reviewed the play to see if Green should be penalized for a “hostile act,” TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy didn’t believe the Warriors forward neck-punched VanVleet on purpose.

“I don’t think there’s anything here, it was all inadvertent” – Stan Van Gundy on Draymond Green pic.twitter.com/r73SUOMZFR

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 5, 2025

“I don’t think there’s anything here, it was all inadvertent,” Van Gundy said. “But inadvertent doesn’t mean that they can’t make the call.”

The referees decided to give Green a technical foul, determining the contact occurred after the play was blown dead for the defensive foul on VanVleet. While Green has a history of cheap shots, Van Gundy felt bad after watching him “inadvertently” punch VanVleet in the neck.

“This one, I feel bad for Draymond Green on,” Van Gundy said. “I mean, this wasn’t Draymond Green trying to start anything. Wasn’t Draymond Green arguing, and I think the key right here as Steve Kerr has talked about, is that Draymond Green doesn’t let this difficult call get to him and he just keeps his composure, which he seems to be doing.”

NBA fans might expect this type of defense from the Golden State Warriors broadcast, but a national analyst has to know Green deserves at least a little bit of blame here.

Sure, Green didn’t set up to punch or hit his opponent, but these exaggerated body movements, where he appears to lose control of his limbs, have seemingly become part of his game. And whatever happens to anyone in the way of Green when he loses control of his limbs, he and Van Gundy can try to claim it was inadvertent. But no analyst should look at the image of Green jumping in the air with his flailing arms and legs and “feel bad” for anyone other than the person who is being punched in the neck.