Former player admits Cavaliers 'tried to bait' Warriors star in 2016 NBA Finals

On the podcast "A King's Reign," former Cavaliers big man Channing Frye explained Cleveland's attitude toward Green, who went into the Finals one flagrant foul point away from a suspension.

"Of course!" Frye responded to a question about whether he and his teammates were trying to "bait" Green into another flagrant. "Everybody was trying to bait him! He shouldn't have had that many fouls. He shouldn't have been kicking people in their wee-wee!"

Green amassed three flagrant foul points in the the 2016 playoffs, with a fourth point resulting in an automatic suspension. He got two of them when the NBA upgraded his kick to Steven Adams' groin to a flagrant two foul.

Green also got a point for his flagrant one in the first round, when he slammed Michael Beasley to the ground as time was running out.

Frye and the Cavs knew that the volatile Green was on the brink of a suspension all series.

"It's not our fault. We're supposed to take advantage," Frye explained. "Hey, if someone's shoe is untied, I'm going to step on their laces. No harm, no foul. It is part of the game."

Despite Green's repeated claims that he can't be baited or "triggered" into technical, LeBron James did just that at the end of the Warriors' Game 4 victory in Cleveland. He stepped over Green, and the Warriors forward reacted with a swipe at James' groin. It was called a double foul at the time, but the NBA upgraded it to a flagrant — and a suspension — the next day.

Frye says Green even recognized that Cleveland was trying to provoke him.

"He knew we were baiting him," Frye said. "If you watch that game, everyone was trying to bait him."

To Warriors players and fans who were upset about the gamesmanship, Frye had no sympathy.

"You know what you should be mad about?" he asked. "The 25 other technicals!"

While you might think Green would have learned a lesson from his suspension, which absolutely led to Cleveland overcoming a 3-1 deficit to win the title, that hasn't really been the case. He's been ejected from playoff games in each of the last two seasons, earning a one-game suspension against the Sacramento Kings. Green had 17 technicals last season, second only to Dillon Brooks, which earned him a one-game suspension in the regular season.

Green is bound for the Hall of Fame, but the 2016 suspension remains the biggest black mark on his record. He took the bait, and the Cavaliers reeled in the title.