Draymond Green took a page out of the book of former teammate Chris Paul during Tuesday’s game.
Green and the Golden State Warriors faced off on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La. With the Warriors trailing 99-90 with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter, Green decided to pull an unusual (and desperate) move.
Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan was in the game at the time while Warriors forward Gui Santos was shooting the second of two free throws. While the shot was up in the air, Green dramatically leapt up onto the back of Jordan.
Here is the bizarre video.
Draymond goes for a piggy back ride for the Hack-a-DeAndre pic.twitter.com/mjWxaOVcLL
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) February 25, 2026
That was indeed a strategy-based move by Green. Jordan has long been known as one of the worst free-throw shooters in the NBA and might have been subbed out by New Orleans on the next dead ball. Intentionally fouling him allowed the Warriors to potentially force an empty offensive possession out of the Pelicans during a moment in the game where Golden State needed any help that they could get.
Jordan, a 50.0 percent free-throw shooter this season and a 47.5 percent free-throw shooter for his career, wound up splitting his two ensuing foul shots before being subbed out at the 4:10 mark. While the Warriors ended up making a late run, they still lost to the Pelicans by a final score of 113-109.
Though the free-throw-line-saddle move is very rarely seen in the NBA, it is not entirely unprecedented. After all, retired 12-time All-Star Chris Paul, a former Warrior, once pulled that exact same move on Dwight Howard during a playoff game.
