Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is no stranger to controversy on the court, if his near-annual brushes with the NBA's technical foul limit are any indication, but his latest confrontation didn't involve another player.
Green got into a skirmish with a New Orleans Pelicans fan during the Warriors' game on Sunday night, nearly coming chest-to-chest with a man sitting courtside.
While the incident didn't turn physical, the fan revealed what provoked Green, and the Warriors star made his case for confronting the fan.
Here's what you need to know about the incident between Green and a Pelicans fan on Sunday night.
MORE: How Bronny James performed in first NBA start
Draymond Green fan incident
Green came face-to-face with a fan during the Warriors' win over the Pelicans on Sunday and told reporters after the game that the fan "kept calling me a woman."
"It was a good joke at first, but you can't keep calling me a woman," Green said. "I got four kids, one on the way. You can't keep calling me a woman."
Draymond Green gets into with a Pelicans fan 😳 pic.twitter.com/G16xgKnt3E
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) November 17, 2025
It turned out, however, that the fan was actually calling Green a woman's name: WNBA standout Angel Reese. The fan used Reese's name to disparage Green, who at one point missed five shots on one possession and rebounded his own miss four times.
Green said the fan calmed down once he approached. "He was talking at first. Then you get a little closer and he didn't really say much else," Green told reporters, though video of the incident shows the fan doing much of the talking when the two were face-to-face.
Who is Sam Green?
The fan involved identified himself at 35-year-old Sam Green. He was wearing a black Pelicans shirt while sitting courtside at the Smoothie King Center.
MORE: Draymond Green and the rest of the NBA's oldest active players
What did the fan say to Draymond Green?
The fan told the AP he referred to Green as "Angel Reese" because the Warriors star had several instances in which he rebounded his own missed shots. Green at one point missed five shots on one possession and finished 3-of-13 shooting in the win.
"I wasn’t using profanity and for him to walk 12 feet off the court to come and get in my face like that, it was a little unnerving," the fan said, adding that he was given a warning but not ejected from the arena.
The fan claimed Green threatened to punch him if the "Angel Reese" chants continued.
How many kids does Draymond Green have?
Green has four children and, as he indicated Sunday night, a fifth on the way. Green's wife, Hazel Renee, revealed in early September that she is pregnant with a fifth child who will join siblings Olive, Draymond Jr., Cash and Hunni.