1991 Era Karl Malone Would Laugh at Draymond Green’s Ejection

When Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected from Sunday afternoon’s Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal matchup with Memphis, the collective (non-Grizzlies supporting) internet could only shake its head.

With the Warriors trailing by a single point just 1:18 before halftime, Green was hit with a flagrant two-foul call and, eventually, left the court after making an Antonio Brown-like curtain call.

Trae Young, whose Atlanta Hawks bowed out in Round 1, was watching the game and tweeted that the call was biased because of Green’s record of on-court incidents, tweeting:

Former Weber State star, and current Portland Trailblazer, Damian Lillard also had an issue with the call.

Former NBA players like Hall-of-Fame Los Angeles Lakers forward James Worthy noted how much the game has changed since he played.

And long-time Jazz fans couldn’t be blamed for thinking about how different this era of the NBA is - particularly if they were around for Karl Malone’s near decapitation of Isiah Thomas.

On December 14, 1991, during the Jazz’ first season in the Delta Center, Thomas drove the lane, went right by Mark Eaton, and was met with a heavy hit from Malone. The Mailman’s right elbow made solid contact with Thomas' left eye. 

The collision dropped Thomas to the ground and opened a wound that would require 40 stitches to close. Malone was ejected from the game, though commentators Hot Rod Hundley and Ron Boone were at least a little surprised by the call after musing that it didn’t look intentional.

Ultimately, the Warriors held off Memphis to steal home-court advantage with a 117-116 victory.