“Draymond Green has done everything shy of pulling out a gun and shooting our players,” said Teroya “Tea” Eason, mother of Houston Rockets bench player Tari Eason, just last week. Draymond Green’s on-court prowess is the stuff of legends, but so is his on-court demeanour that often puts the player in trouble. From yelling at referees and even following them around the court, to hitting Jusuf Nurkic and even putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, the player is no simple trash-talker and is willing to go the extra mile to highlight his frustration. With the Warriors now in a crucial face-off against the Houston Rockets in the playoffs, it was only a matter of time before Green would once again get into trouble because of his actions. Well, the same happened, and it happened marvellously.

As 2:44 minutes remained in the 2nd quarter of the Warriors-Rockets Game 4, Draymond Green and Tari Eason fell after colliding with each other. The incident brought out a resentful action from the Warriors’ power forward, as he pulled at the Rockets player’s jersey, grabbed his leg with his own legs, and even went forward to grab the leg with his hands.

It didn’t take long for the referee and other Rockets players to approach and break up the fight. Moments later, Green’s actions were deemed “unnecessary,” and the player was assessed a Flagrant 1 Foul. Meanwhile, Tari Eason received a technical.

Green had already received 1 technical foul earlier in the game, along with three personal fouls. This means that not receiving another technical saved the Warriors’ star from an ejection. The same will surely not play well for Rockets fans.

The incident with Tari Eason occurred only a few minutes after the Warriors-Rockets game started showing the first signs of it transforming into a WWE match. During the same 2nd quarter, Dillon Brooks, aka the ‘dirtier’ Draymond Green of the Houston Rockets, knocked down Stephen Curry while guarding him in a ball screen, along with Green and Amen Thompson. Curry then taunted Brooks after forcing his 2nd foul, which led Brooks to retaliate by attempting a ball snatch from the 3-point leader. This led to Green getting physical with Brooks and causing players from both benches to rush and break up the fight. Green experienced that and, like SpongeBob, said, “Wanna see me do it again?”. Sigh.

Draymond Green’s actions did not make him popular with the NBA community. Skip Bayless took to X and wrote, “Draymond Green: dirtiest player ever. Kicked Eason in the back of the head”. Tari Eason’s mother was back to criticize the Warriors‘ power forward, and she wrote, “He almost got that business!!! Kicking my baby in the head. STAND UP TALL ROCKETS!!!”. Sportswriter Frank Isola made it clear where to pass the blame, as he wrote, “Draymond knew exactly what he was doing. That kick to the back/neck/head was not inadvertent. Stop.” How the player will justify this fight will certainly be an interesting watch.

It is not surprising that the incident occurred between Green and Eason. After all, tensions between them had risen since the Warriors-Rockets series began. However, given the plea that Eason’s mother had put out, the veteran could have avoided targeting the 23-year-old.

Teroya Eason’s used Tari’s father’s death to ask Draymond Green to back off: “YOU DON’T WANT THIS DRAYMOND”

After Jimmy Butler’s injury, a scruffle between Fred VanVleet and Draymond Green had become the most interesting part of Game 2 of the Warriors-Rockets series. However, that wasn’t the only time tensions were seen rising in the matchup. In the second quarter, during a jump ball situation, Draymond Green got into a shoving match with Rockets forward Tari Eason. This triggered a deafening “F— you, Draymond” chant from the home crowd. Eason did not just have the backing of the crowd, but also of his mother, who did not shy away from giving out some unfiltered remarks.

Taking to X, ‘Tea’ Eason wrote “That man just lost his father. YOU DON’T WANT THIS DRAYMOND. This pain you ain’t seen before. These boys not letting yo old a** kick them around. Don’t get f*cked up!!!”. Yikes!

Not much information is known about Tari Eason’s father, since Teroya raised Tari, alongside his three brothers—Avante, Angel, and Tega— by herself. She continues looking out for her children even now, even if it involves speaking in a ‘foreign tongue’, as the Dowager from Downton Abbey would say.

This might not be the last we see of Draymond Green and Tari Eason. For Green’s sake, one hopes that Teroya herself does not come on the court and teach the Warriors’ power forward a lesson.