When it comes to offense, Steph Curry changed the NBA landscape. On the other side of the floor, some could say the same thing about Draymond Green.
“What Draymond does really transcends any modern advanced stats,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters Monday at practice.
Green potentially could become just the seventh player since the league created award teams in 1968-69 to make 10 All-Defensive Teams — and if it were up to Kerr, the Warriors forward would be a shoo-in.
“He’s the best defensive player I’ve ever seen, and at that end, I think he’s still an elite defender,” Kerr said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he belongs on the All-Defensive Team.”
“He blows up everything defensively,” Kerr continued. “He takes the best guy if that’s what you need him to do. … Every night we’re faced with these challenges, and Draymond is literally an answer to every challenge that we’re faced with. And sometimes he’s the one that figures out the solution to that challenge.”
In Golden State’s loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Chase Center, Green was faced with the challenge of guarding Kevin Durant as well as Alperen Şengün, and while both players have completely different playing styles, Green held his own, according to his teammates.
“I think what he’s able to do, especially this year, more than ever, him taking on the challenge of guarding some of the best perimeter scorers in the league and in history — KD, Kawhi [Leonard] — he takes that challenge on every night now with Jimmy [Butler] being out,” Brandin Podziemski said at practice on Monday. “And so for him to do that and then the ability to go from KD to Şengün and be just as effective, if not more, just versatility, I think a lot of numbers would back it up, too.”
While Podziemski says the numbers play a significant role in proving Green’s abilities, Gui Santos says that doesn’t tell the whole story.
“We cannot measure how good he is on defense by numbers,” Santos told reporters on Monday.
“There was one play where I was guarding Şengün and he knew the play they were doing,” Santos said. “And he switched me for me to start guarding KD before the play happened, so when Şengün set the screen for KD, we switched and he ended up guarding him the last possession. I didn’t even know the play they were running, but Draymond already knew everything.”
Green boasts one NBA Defensive Player of the Year award to go along with four top-three finishes in the category, and he has gotten there by being one step ahead of the competition, as Santos alluded to.
While it’s no guarantee that Green will earn his 10th selection, it’s unarguable that Green’s skill has made him one of the most renowned defenders in the NBA during his illustrious career.
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