Draymond Green argued his fine by throwing Blazers GM Neil Olshey under the bus

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has always considered himself a marked man.

When the NBA described his repeated strikes to opponents’ groins during the 2016 playoffs as “unnatural acts,” Green questioned the league’s kinesiological knowledge and wondered aloud why Houston Rockets guard James Harden’s flailing attempts to draw a whistle aren’t called the same.

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Now, some 16 months removed from a Game 5 suspension that may or may not have cost Golden State a title, Green is again questioning the league’s disciplinary measures against him, referring to the $25,000 fine he received for “failing to disengage” in a dustup with Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal on Thursday as a double standard and throwing another NBA rival under the bus.

“They got presidents of teams giving middle fingers on national TV and nothing’s said,” Green said following Sunday’s 115-107 loss to the Detroit Pistons, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes. “You don’t want to shine the light on somebody else. They got someone else to be the bad guy, so I’ll just keep being me. I guess I’m not supposed to be me. I tried that. That s*** don’t work, either. So, it is what it is. I wish I had a better answer, but I really don’t have a better answer. Failing to disengage? I don’t know what that means. Getting punched, grabbed and slammed is maybe what that means.”

Green did not refer to the president by name, but it was fairly evident the Warriors forward fingered Portland Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey, who sure looked to be flipping the bird from his courtside seat following his team’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on a Blake Griffin buzzer-beater:

According to Haynes, the league investigated Olshey’s hand gesture, but determined he was aiming the finger at a friend in the arena who was rooting for the Clippers, and therefore did not merit a fine.

It is fair to wonder why a team executive flipping the bird from the front row to anyone, even if is a friend, wasn’t worthy of a fine, since the NBA would certainly discipline any player for a similar action.

There may indeed be a double standard for players and executives, but that does not necessarily mean the standard Green was held to was too high. Green has been fined for escalating fights before, and even if he wasn’t the aggressor in the exchange with Beal, he did bear hug the Wizards guard and tackle him into the stands, so another $25,000 hit for this shouldn’t have been too surprising:

Green’s only suspension came as a result of too many flagrant fouls in a postseason full of groin shots, and he was not disciplined after reaching a plea deal following the alleged assault of a former Michigan State University football player, so it’s hard to argue the NBA has it out for the All-Star.

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Green’s first fine? A $20,000 pay cut for escalating a fight between then-Warriors teammate Andrew Bogut and ex-Blazers big man Joel Freeland during his rookie season. Maybe Green’s not-so-subtle hint that the Blazers GM deserves equal treatment now is him exacting some revenge four years later.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach