“F—ing terrible” is what Anthony Edwards said to criticize the NBA referees back in December, an action for which he soon incurred a fine. Over the last couple of months, the Timberwolves star hasn’t been the only one who has called out the NBA officials for the calls they have made, or missed, during important matchups. From fans taking to social media to write “THATS NOT LEGAL” over a Brandin Podziemski foul call to stating “this is why ratings are down” over a wrong Andre Drummond ejection call, the officials reportedly continue facing the brunt from fans and players alike. However, where others want the referees to be more vigilant in their calls, Draymond Green wants them to ease up on a few restrictions.

In the aftermath of the Warriors’ 107-104 win against the Detroit Pistons, the 34-year-old power forward participated in a Q&A session with several reporters. During the same, he was reminded that Dennis Schroder and Isaiah Stewart had received technical fouls after exchanging words with each other. The incident occurred right after Green and Pistons’ rookie Ron Holland were disagreeing with each other.

Recalling the same, Green described those minutes as “amazing”, and “also beautiful”. He urged that those ‘punishable moves’ should be something referees should be more lenient towards. After all, it may give an additional reason to keep fans entertained.

“Ya know, that’s what people want to see. It’s that stuff. And I thought, ya know, they got a double tech probably after the fact, but I thought the officials did a good job of handling it” said Green. “They let it play out, they let guys talk, then they broke it up. Guys started talking again, and then they let it play out some more. Beautiful, this game should matter. We’re playing this league now. It’s almost like you get turned into a robot. You don’t see any of that stuff. And then everyone say the ratings are down. Yeah, of course. No s**t.”

It is now no secret that the NBA has been struggling in regard to viewership. A couple of weeks ago, OutKick’s Clay Travis wrote a report, revealing: “NBA ratings are down 48% since 2012. Down 28% this year alone on ESPN. Every other sports league is setting ratings records. Total disaster”. Even Adam Silver admitted that “Ratings are down a bit” during a reported discussion that took place ahead of the Emirates NBA Cup final in Las Vegas. According to ‘The Lead’, ‘Controversial Officiating’ was listed as one reason for the ratings being down. Other reasons were cited as ‘Bad Promotion’ and ‘Illegal Streaming’.

Therefore, to ease the mind of the NBA commissioner, the Warriors’ power forward believes in taking an unconventional method. Just like punishments were ignored for him and Ron Holland, Draymond Green believes that the same should become the norm. While turning the NBA court into a Gladiator pit would not appeal to many, it may very well increase the level of eyes towards the screen as the games are being played.

If anyone would pitch being more aggressive on the court, then it is Draymond Green. After all, from trash-talking to putting rival players in a chokehold, the power forward has done it all. Unfortunately, the same has also gotten him into trouble as he has been suspended for extended periods. As it turns out, the veteran has even gone ahead and formed a connection between his suspension and NBA ratings.

Draymond Green believes that low NBA ratings caused calls for his suspension “We know that name carries weight”

The ongoing NBA season had barely begun and Draymond Green’s on-court competitiveness had brought out a new story. It all started during a Warriors-Grizzlies matchup when the 4x NBA champion grabbed Zach Edey by the Achilles. The action forced the latter to trip to the floor. The referees hit Green with a transition take foul but upgraded it to a flagrant 1 after the game. Former Warriors player Kendrick Perkins and NFL legend Shannon Sharpe urged the NBA to suspend Green “for an extended period”. The calls by the two analysts along with several others did not go unnoticed by the primary culprit himself.

“The ratings are low. We know the Draymond name sparks buzz,” said Green during an episode of ‘The Draymond Green Show’. “We know that name carries weight.” The player added, “We know that’s going to get people riled up. The ratings are low so you want to sub in Draymond [expletive].”

Adam Silver may make several attempts to get more people engaged in the NBA. However, turning it into WWE may not be among them. Therefore, Draymond Green may have to come up with another suggestion that could help solve the declining ratings.