Draymond Green rails against ‘Draymond Green Rule’ after no-call

In the 2016 NBA Finals, Draymond Green got suspended for a game after making brief contact with LeBron James’ private area. Sunday night, Jarrett Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers delivered a kick to Green’s own swimsuit area, and the referees didn’t even blow the whistle.

Sure, some people would call that karma for Green’s history of inadvertant groin kicks. And yes, by “some people” I mean former Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams. But Draymond Green would call the officials’ ignoring the contact hypocritical.

“The Draymond Green Rule is only a rule when Draymond Green is delivering...cool,” Green posted on Instagram, adding an emoji that could best be interepreted as “Meh.”

While some fans, by which we mean, fans of teams the Warriors have defeated in the playoffs, were incensed at how much slack the officials gave Green was he was complaining to them last in their game Friday, this “free kick” rule is certainly more trouble. (Side note: Wanting game-changing technical fouls in the final seconds of a game because someone was talking is classic Hall Monitor behavior.)

The so-called “Draymond Green Rule” came in response to Green’s own wildly flailing legs delivering damage during the 2016 playoffs. The NBA banned what it called “unnatural acts,” although that sounds like they’re talking about sodomy, which is still technically illegal in Massachusetts. Anyway, even if the wording makes it seem like the NBA is subject to the laws of the town from “Footloose,” it’s should punish wild flailing kicks.

Does Green have a double standard? Yes and no. He got ejected from a game and suspended for another against the Sacramento Kings last April, and his history of kicking people factored into it. But he also has a double standard in how he interacts with officials. Perhaps Green is simply yelling more politely than we imagine, or his extensive podcasting experience helps him mesmerize the officials with his soothing voice.

But you shouldn’t be allowed to kick people in the groin, even if it’s an accident, and even if that person has kicked a groin himself years ago. To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, a groin kick for a groin kick leaves the whole world sterile.