Kings-Warriors playoff preview: Dealing with Draymond Green could be Public Enemy No. 1

Green could be Public Enemy No. 1 in Sacramento by the end of the weekend with the Kings set to face the Warriors in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series Saturday at Golden 1 Center.

The matchup is already being billed as the Battle of NorCal. How contentious the series gets may well depend on Green, who is famous for confronting opponents and officials in sometimes violent and often obnoxious ways.

“You expect Draymond to go out there, be physical, get his teammates involved, try to hype up their team, go out there and lead,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “That’s what he’s done for years.”

Green is an 11-year NBA veteran who has been to the playoffs eight times and won four NBA championships with the Warriors. He is a four-time All-Star and seven-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection who was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.

“He’s just a rock-solid player,” Kings rookie Keegan Murray said. “A guy that isn’t rattled easy. He’s won four championships, so he’s kind of the engine, one of the engines that leads him, and I feel like a lot of guys on our team have to step up and stop him.”

There’s no question about Green’s talent given his ability to pass, rebound and defend, but his antics and erratic behavior have been the subject of scrutiny for years.

Green was suspended for one game in March after receiving his 16^th technical foul of the season for throwing a basketball at Russell Westbrook’s head during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Green ranks second behind Rasheed Wallace with 17 career ejections. One of those ejections came during last year’s playoffs, when Green skipped off the floor, inciting the opposing crowd in a show of defiance after grabbing Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke by the jersey and throwing him to the floor.

First-year Kings coach Mike Brown knows Green well after six seasons as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors. Brown has always been fond of Green, but now he’s preparing his team to go up against him.

“You obviously you try to tell them as much as you can about each individual player, not just Draymond,” Brown said. “You show them film on each individual player. Draymond is going to be intense. He’s going to be physical. He’s going to let you know what he’s thinking every single minute of the game and all those things. You’ve just got to be able to stay the course. You’ve got to be able to play your game and be just as physical with him on both sides of the ball as he is with you, if not trying to exceed it.”

All-Star center Domantas Sabonis said the Kings can’t get caught up in Green’s shenanigans.

“We’ve just got to play our game,” Sabonis said. “We don’t have to pay attention to it. At the end of the day, it’s us five on the court, our bench, our coaching staff. That’s all.”

Green is averaging 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.0 steals this season, which could be his last with the Warriors. The writing has been on the wall since the Warriors started negotiating a four-year, $140 million contract extension with Poole, which was finalized in October, about a week after his confrontation with Green.

The Warriors drafted Green out of Michigan State with the 35^th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. He joined the club as Golden State star Stephen Curry was entering his fourth season with the Warriors. By 2014-15, Green had emerged as a key starter on a team that won the first of four championships in seven years.

“Draymond’s had a great season,” Kerr said. “He’s proven, I think, why he’s one of the best players in the league and why he impacts winning as much as almost anybody out there. He’s just so unique as a player. There’s nobody like him out there. What he does defensively, what he does with his brain, the way he attacks defenses when he’s playing the pick-and-roll game with Steph or handling the ball in transition, he’s just an incredibly unique, powerful player, and he’s had a great season.”