Looking at it broadly, Draymond Green's flagrant foul on LeBron James in Golden State's 126-91 victory over Cleveland on Monday was a small, almost meaningless play. The Warriors, after all, crushed the Cavaliers. However, according to Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, Green's flagrant foul was actually quite significant.
After reviewing the play more carefully over the last couple of days, Lue told reporters on Wednesday that he believes Green was trying to send a message with his hard foul.
From Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon:
"Was it a statement? I think so," Lue said when asked about the play following Wednesday's practice. "He didn't want to let LeBron get in the open court and get a dunk or layup and he took a hard foul. He wanted to try to send a message to our team."
Lue is entitled to his beliefs and may be saying this so that his team won't forget about the foul the next time they take on the Warriors. It is hard to imagine that there was any real intent behind Green's foul, though.
That said, Green did use excessive force, mainly because James is a freight train on the open court. And James did sell the foul, which caused Green to earn a flagrant. But James himself shrugged off the foul, since he is a "football player."
Whether Green meant to send a message is hard to say. The Cavs certainly won't forget about it. But either way, it is an interesting footnote to the blossoming rivalry that exists between these NBA heavyweights.
