There’s no denying that the NBA has embraced a more offense-centric style of play. In fact, a quick look at the final scores from Monday’s games shows that every team that played scored at least 101 points, with the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, dropping 146 on the Utah Jazz.
Of course, this only added more fuel to the argument that today’s NBA players no longer play the type of defense fans enjoyed in past eras. However, Danny Green, a former member of the league’s All-Defensive team, pushed back against that narrative, saying defense is gaining popularity again — thanks to the efforts of San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.
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Nothing is easy in the NBA
Despite playing in only his third season in the league, Wembanyama already has two block titles and is set to win a third. Additionally, the 7’4″ center from France is the odds-on favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Wembanyama, though, admitted that before he joined the NBA, he too had heard about the lack of defense in the big league. However, he has since discovered that it definitely isn’t the case.
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Green echoed that sentiment.
“That’s why I think it’s crazy when, you know, regular people are quick to call NBA guys like bums. You see guys like (Brian) Scalabrine going on his one-on-one little tour of like, ‘Oh, you think I’m a bum? All right,'” he said. “You know, like you earn everything you get in the NBA. There’s nothing easy in the league — minutes, points, rebounds.”
“There’s nothing easy about playing in the NBA, and people do defend. Now, some teams better than others. I would love to see more defense, but I think that’s also because, again, we talked about how they referee the defense,” Green added.
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Today’s NBA rules and players’ talent and skill levels have made it extremely difficult to play stellar defense. However, as Wembanyama has shown in his short time in the league, he’s keen on reminding everyone that they must go through a wall if they want to score on him.
A lot of switching
Green’s co-host, Paul Pierce, speculated that the narrative that today’s players don’t play defense originated with players of his era. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, defense in the NBA was simple: you were assigned to a player, and you stuck with him at all costs.
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“I think in my era, a switch was looked at as like a sign of weakness, the easy way out,” Pierce said. “I just see everybody switch. And so that’s why the narrative is people when they say don’t play defense. It’s as compared to the era before.”
“There’s just no more defensive scheming like hedge, trap, rotate, you know. It was just a lot of switching. Like, I don’t see defensive schemes. I just see not as much. It’s not as much,” he added.
Playing defense in today’s NBA is a thankless job, especially when the best scorers in the league can drop 50 even on elite defenders. That’s just how advanced the league has become. But to claim that the NBA no longer plays defense is a flat-out lie.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.