Everybody loves Draymond

Jun. 10—Somewhere Bill Burr is smiling.

The Boston Celtics used a dominating fourth quarter to pull away from the Golden State Warriors, 116-100, on Wednesday night to go up 2-1 in the NBA Finals, and the Player of the Game wasn't anybody on the floor.

The TD Garden was rocking, verbal abuse was being hurled and Golden State just made a huge mistake — letting Boston fans know it affected them.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr and sharpshooter Klay Thompson called out the Boston crowd after the game for its profane chants directed at Draymond Green. Thompson had this to say during the postgame presser:

"We've played in front of rude people before. Dropping f-bombs with children in the crowd. Real classy. Good job, Boston."

Knowing Boston, the kids probably started the chant.

For those that don't watch the Association (I admittedly prefer college basketball, whether Maryland is playing or not), Green is a football player on the hardwood. Some, many, would call him a dirty player.

Green's built from the Dennis Rodman mold of using hustle to impact the game beyond the stat sheet, but he often goes too far. Take Wednesday night for example, when he was seen tugging Boston star Jayson Tatum's injured right shoulder during a box out in the second quarter.

His form was poor — he didn't pull nearly hard enough to cause any real damage — so he loses some points for that.

Points have been hard to come by for Green, who, as Hall of Famer Charles Barkley often says on TNT's Inside the NBA, is averaging a "triple-single" this series.

Green has actually been the subject of Barkley's triple-single jest in the past, along with Lonzo Ball, Ben Simmons and co-host Kenny Smith, much to the amusement of Shaquille O'Neal, another co-host.

For the series, Green has as many points as personal fouls (15), is shooting 26.3% from the field, is 0-7 on 3-pointers and 5 for 10 from the free-throw line. He's fouled out in 2 of 3 games and has more turnovers than field goals, 6-5.

Maybe I've been corrupted, but when you're playing that poorly, and committing uncalled technical fouls with regularity, you don't get to complain about the crowd.

Since when did fans saying mean things even become a topic of conversation? I'm supposed to feel bad that a few millionaires have to endure an f-bomb or two?

If I'm being too harsh, blame my college education, which taught me how to act in an arena.

As a high school junior, I bought tickets to the Maryland-Duke game in 2013, which was the only way to convince my mother to take me.

I was understandably excited and worried we'd be late and miss a minute of the action (my mother is notorious for returning multiple times to the house to retrieve misplaced items she forgot to pack), so we got there two hours early.

We were one of the first paying customers to enter the Comcast Center, but the student section was packed to the brim because it was a flash mob game and they had to get there early to practice choreography (it's cooler than it sounds).

That season was Seth Curry's senior year at Duke, who is, of course, the younger brother of future Hall of Famer and current Golden State guard Steph Curry. Curry's mom arrived not too long after us.

As Sonya Curry walked down the stairs to her seat, she was greeted to a cacophony of boos that lasted more than a minute, which was, and still is, one of the most amusing things I've witnessed.

She laughed and waved as she took her seat, and in a weird way, it was a beautiful moment of respect. I'd probably have a different recollection of the proceedings had the Terps not won (thank you Seth Allen).

As long as there aren't threats of violence or racial slurs — which, unfortunately, Boston has a history of (see former Orioles center fielder Adam Jones at Fenway Park in 2017) — I don't see the problem.

Fortunately, David Sterne is no longer the NBA commissioner.

"I want fans to enjoy themselves," Adam Sterne, the league's commissioner, said. "Of course, from the league office you want to see it done with respect, but I get it."

In other words, the words aren't nice, but they aren't without merit.

As for the "think of the kids" angle, if you don't want your children to be around degenerate drunk, screaming people, you probably shouldn't bring them to a professional sporting event that starts at 9 p.m.

Let's call it what it is, an excuse by the Warriors because they're now down two games to one.

If Golden State didn't like the abuse during Game 3, just wait until Friday night.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.