Draymond Green embroiled in ugly courtside confrontation with NBA fan over bizarre Angel Reese taunts

Draymond Green confronted an NBA fan who kept heckling him with chants of 'Angel Reese' during the Warriors' 124-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night. Shortly before halftime, Draymond Green strode over to the grinning fan - who identified himself as Sam Green, 35 - and stood just inches from him at courtside. The pair exchanged words, with the fan claiming Green swore at him and threatened to punch him. Officials quickly stepped between them and pulled the Warriors star away while ushers gathered around and spoke with the fan. 'He just kept calling me a woman. It was a good joke at first but you can't keep calling me a woman,' Green said after the game. The Golden State forward later clarified that the fan was calling him 'a woman's name.' 'I have four kids and one on the way,' Green added. 'Just don't be disrespectful.' The fan said he was taunting Green with chants of 'Angel Reese,' because, while the Warriors star had several rebounds, he hadn't attempted many shots at that point. WNBA star and former LSU standout Reese set several school and SEC rebounding records. Green said game official Courtney Kirkland told him: 'I got it. I've heard him over and over and over again. You've handled it well. Don't get yourself in no trouble. I'll take care of it.' But the fan, who was allowed to stay in his front-row seat despite being warned by ushers, claimed the confrontation put him on edge. 'I wasn't using profanity and for him to walk 12ft off the court to come and get in my face like that, it was a little unnerving,' he said. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game that he had no issue with players speaking with a fan. 'As long as it doesn't escalate, it's fine (for a player) to go over and have a discussion,' Kerr said. 'It would have been nice if security had gotten there a little bit earlier.' Green has built a reputation for being confrontational and emotionally combustible on the court. He has been fined for fan interaction before. In 2022, he was fined $25,000 for what the NBA described as 'directing obscene language toward a fan.' Green has been critical of fan behavior, saying fans face relatively few consequences for saying inappropriate things, and are in fact motivated to do so by the fact that players can be fined for engaging with them. 'I love disrespect on the road because we win a lot,' Green said. 'Quieting a home crowd is always fun.