Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
In big moments, athletes often say they zone out the crowd noise and focus on the task at hand. That wasn’t the case for the Golden State Warriors late in the Houston Rockets’ 109-94 Game 2 victory that evened the two teams’ first-round playoff series.
As the game got chippy late, often with Warriors antagonist Draymond Green involved, the sellout crowd of 18,055 Rockets fans inside Toyota Center let their feelings be known with a vulgar chant directed at Green.
After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr took exception to the chant while four-time NBA champion Green challenged the Houston crowd to be more original, since it’s a chant he heard from Boston fans in the 2022 NBA Finals.
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“It’s not ideal when the crowd is chanting, ‘F— you, Draymond,’” Kerr said. “I don’t know. They did it in Boston a few years ago in the Finals. It is what it is.”
Later, Kerr went back to the thought that seemed to trail off during his first attempt.
“Draymond’s been around forever. He’s an instigator. He’s always going to be in the mix. Because of his career, his championships, his fire, he’s going to be a lightning rod, that’s all part of it,” Kerr said. “I would prefer if fans can use a little more discretion and remember the guy has kids, and there’s kids … I don’t know, maybe I’m old school. I’m all for fans cheering for their teams, if you want to yell at the opponent, great. But I just think ‘F you,’ it’s a little much.”
Green said the chants didn’t affect his game or his mindset.
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“It’s not original,” he said. “I’ve been there before and won a championship while it was happening, so, yeah, it’s not really original. You can’t steal other people’s s—. That belongs to Boston. I just kind of kept it pushing.”
If there’s such a thing as a Rockets’ version of Draymond Green, it would be Dillon Brooks. When asked what he thought of the home crowd, Brooks took a stab at predicting the future, “I’m prepared for the chants when we get to Golden State.”
