Warriors forward Draymond Green was a huge factor in Tuesday’s in over Milwaukee, racking up 10 defensive rebounds, four blocks, and two steals while serving as the primary defender on Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored just 20 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
After Golden State’s victory, Green told reporters, including Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, that he believes he’s making a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year consideration.
“Obviously, if we keep winning and close this year out strong, most definitely,” Green said. “I look around the league and don’t see many players impacting the game on the defensive end the way I do. I don’t see many players completely throwing off an entire team’s offense the way I do. One thousand percent.
“Especially with Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) going down, seemed like he had it won. And now it is right there. So, one million percent I have a case, and I will continue to build that case for these next 13 games. Tonight was a prime example of that.”
The Bucks’ 93 points on Tuesday represented a season low for the team, Youngmisuk writes, while Antetokounmpo had his worst shooting night in over two years. According to NBA.com’s tracking data, Giannis made 0-of-7 field goal attempts when Green was his primary defender, prompting head coach Steve Kerr to refer to the forward’s performance as “incredible.”
“To hold him to five field goals, Draymond showed why he is still one of the great defenders in the world,” Kerr said. “It wasn’t just the defense; it was the leadership, the energy.”
As Green pointed out, the Defensive Player of the Year race looks wide open following Wembanyama’s season-ending injury. Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Luguentz Dort are among the frontrunners, but none of those candidates have gained the same sort of narrative momentum Wembanyama had (though betting odds favor Mobley).
Green doesn’t rank among the league’s top 20 in defensive categories like steals (1.4) or blocks (1.1) per contest, but he made it clear on Tuesday he believes his impact on a game goes far beyond box-score numbers.
“You got some people that have a vote on the East Coast that probably see us play four times a year,” Green said. “And if you look at the stats, you be like, ‘Oh, Draymond averages one steal and a block.’ Those numbers don’t jump off the page at you. But you watch me play and then ask the opposing coach what did I do to (their) offense? It’s a different story.
“This award is widely based off statistics, and those statistics don’t always tell the story … But I want another one, and I ain’t retired yet. I still got a chance.”
In order to ensure he qualifies for award consideration, Green will have to play 20-plus minutes in at least 11 of the Warriors’ 13 remaining regular season games.
I’m sure Dyson Daniels believes he has a strong case to win DPOY but it’s hard to imagine any articles being written about it (especially since he wasn’t even considered a frontrunner for the award on this site until recently). Youngster has been the most dominant defensive player in the league all season long & he was just as dominant last night. Happy 22nd birthday to him as well. He’ll be winning this award numerous times in the next decade or so.
We have a Daniels story coming later today!
Green dominated Giannis last night. made him a non-factor in the game. Blocked so many shots.
Draymond is the best defensive player in the nba after February 8
Before that day, he is a lazy defender
Nature of tiger is sleeping 16 hours a day
Draymond is a sleepy tiger
Next up you pretend LeBron plays defense while he is at top of the key hoping for a easy basket if a Laker play gets a rebound.
“…considered a frontrunner for the award on this site…”
The site is referencing betting odds from independent companies (which are a reflection of public consensus), not their personal opinions
If i hear another player claim they are the greatest of all time is a personal opinion same as claiming you are the king and pretend putting on a crown.
I meant the opinions of the website writers, not Green
Green only mentioned his name should be mentioned but of course the sport writer have nothing else to write about makes it news no different than the GOAT debate its just filler time on sport news shows.
I wasn’t even talking about Green. I was talking about the original comment, which referenced Dyson Daniels
I think the DPOY has too much bias in the voting. Taller players that block shots have a huge advantage over smaller players that must guard faster and better shooters. I am more impressed when a player can stop the best offensive player on the court. No disrespect to Wemby because he is the best in the league but Gobert I would not rank in the top 3.
do you dream about lebron james in your sleep as well? because he wasn’t mentioned anywhere in this article, except your two comments.
Sankara, DPOY’s go to bigs. History says the odds of Dyson Daniels ever winning are tiny. The last time somebody like Daniels won was 1996. Here’s why:
Daniels, like all great on-ball or wing defenders, are rarely recognized because they don’t impact a game as much as the bigs that defend the basket. Bigs like Gobert, Wemby, Jaron Jackson, Giannis, and, soon, Chet Holmgren will continue to be the heavy favorites for DPOY.
There’s another category of defender that occassionally wins, call them “versatile team defenders”. They guard at least 4 positions, play high-IQ team defense, and make plays all over the floor. See Draymond Green, (in his prime) Marcus Smart and (in his prime) Kahwi Leonard. All 3 of those guys can strap a PG. Draymond and prime-Kahwi could guard 5 positions. You probably need to weigh at least 220 pounds to do this.
Every year, we see a couple of new great on-ball/wing defenders — Dyson Daniels, Ausar and Amen Thompson, Mathisse Thybulle, etc. Unless or until they move into the “versatile team defender” category (which looks like a possibility with the Thompson twins), they’ll never win a DPOY.
Daniels is a superb technician that enables him to make a case as the best on-ball defender, but, so far as I’ve seen, he’s not in the ‘versatile, team defender” category, one reason being his smaller frame. The Thompson twins will continue to draw more interest than Daniels because of their superior size and athleticism.
Finally, right or wrong, it’s difficult to win DPOY if you’re an under-average offensive player. That keeps Daniels out of the news.
He has a better case than Dra ……
Jimmy don’t come. We don’t hear from Draymond.
Keep in mind, we’re not discussing who *deserves* the DPOY award more, but who gets the *real votes*.
The oddsmakers say Evan Mobley leads with 67% chance, Draymond is second at 12%, and Daniels is 3rd at 8%.
link to foxsports.com
Looking over the changes in the odds for the past 2 months, we see that Green was ahead of Dyson on the day Butler became a Warrior. Both Geen and Dyson have moved up since, jumping, among others, Jarron Jackson Jr.
Looking over the DPOY odds for the past 5 years, no player of Dyson Daniel’s profile (on-ball and point of attack defender), has ever been given more than a 12% chance of winning a DPOY. The odds always heavily favor the bigs.
This is even a story, it’s just a comment he made.
We need Greymond Dream to concentrate on a championship this year, not individual awards at 35 years old.
I’m not accusing him of being selfish because I don’t think he is, but just my two cents is when he’s being interviewed on this subject, sweep it under the rug and mention that if it happens, it happens. If not, who gives a rats behind?
An individual award is not going to help his next contract and increase his salary, so who gives a flip?
Rings not things.
While it’s unlikely, it’s not completely impossible I suppose. My guess is it will go elsewhere, given how he wasn’t having a big impact until the Butler trade.
Draymond has a point, and he respects Wemby being better.
Give him DPOY and Steph MVP.
I hear people say OG. Dyson Daniels and Wemby fills up the stats. Draymond might have a chance. Maybe someone can give me another good DPY candidate I’m just curious to hear some names
Jaren Jackson …. Mobley.
Greymond touches on the Tony Gwynn syndrome, which is a very real thing and has been for a very long time.
I’m on the east coast and the Warriors game starts at 10:15 pm and if I’m up at 6, it sure makes it rough the next day. Things get groggy around mid afternoon, but I know how to play hurt at the office.
“‘You got some people that have a vote on the East Coast that probably see us play four times a year,’ Green said.”
As if half of the Warriors’ games aren’t on national television…
How many of the voters actually watch Warriors games? The number is definitely small.
Definitely? Surely you have evidence to back up such a lofty claim
Do you have evidence that they are watching?
The onus is on you to provide evidence, since you made the declarative claim
You are right. I don’t have the numbers to back up my claim. But, TV viewership is not at same level at midnight or 1am, when Warrior’s games is played, as it is at 7pm. So, it pretty logical to the numbers go down.
Boss…. The top 2 teams for nationally televised games are the Lakers and the Warriors. How on earth have you come to the conclusion that people who have votes don’t watch west coast teams?
let me fix that for you how many people on the east coast go to sleep before tip off of west coast games. Its been like that in any sport. The east coast players have a big advantage being seen prime time. Can’t blame east coast NBA fans because a game comes on sometimes at almost 11 pm there.
the fact that curry has multiple mvps, draymond has a dpoy, they have all star games and all nba selections, all while with the warriors strongly suggests voters watch Warriors games. Lets stop acting like they’re the Charlotte Hornets or even the Kings. Warriors games get eyes
How does he think he can win not even being top 20 in either of the defensive stats? 1 good defensive game doesn’t win the award for the whole season.
That was answered in the article. Try reading it.
Its the same with his belief of a championship, close to zero.
Oh, the playoffs are a month away. You know who won the Finals, which are over two months from now? Might as well cancel all the upcoming games. Since you called it, there is no reason to play anymore. Are you going to go on record with who the winner is?
Your man Draymond went on record, go confirm with him who won the Finals and who the winner is. Im just sharing my opinion here.
Oh and before I forget, Warriors havent beaten a contender (Okc, Cavs or Boston) with Butler on the team so the jury is out whether they are actually “great”
They lost to a Jokic-less and Murray-less Nuggets which looks bad as they may have gassed out Curry. Ill give credit for winning against the Bucks without Curry but then again, it is a Doc Rivers coached team so theres that.
You said you know who will win the Finals. Who is it? Until then, the Warriors have just as much chance at winning as any other team in the playoffs.
Your reading comprehension is showing. I never said who will win, I said it is close to zero. You, Davey and aristotle need to have your head and eyes checked as you are seeing things that are not there and/or fictional. Must be a common case for delusional Warriors bandwaggon.
Since you have not been watching GSW games Curry been injured the last week with a back injury. He has been off lately. It wasn’t because of being tired. He should have never played in the Nuggets game.
Thanks for correcting me in such a manner arc89. I rarely watch Warriors games due to its time. Hope he gets better as its no fun watching teams that are not at full strength.
Well, 10 rebounds. Hmm. And my conversation from yesterday was deleted for some reason. For getting too close to the truth? Momentus. Look it up people.
Hot air…
Nothing but hot air…
He isn’t even the best defender on his own team…
I was all set to say that even though I am a Hawks fan and Daniels has been lights out that Green has been on a roll lately and deserves consideration despite his poor court attitude, missing games, and not playing up to his standards the first half of the season …. but then I saw this ‘victim card’ nonsense ….
““You got some people that have a vote on the East Coast that probably see us play four times a year”
I get so sick of this West Coast whine. Because he is already playing the victim card I hope he doesn’t win it now. There are plenty of West Coast voters who might still be working, be out at dinner, wrangling the kids to bed, only watching national broadcasts. or who knows what else that probably cause them to watch fewer East Coast games than West Coast, yet you never hear the whine coming from the other side of the country. NEVER. Come on Draymond, just stop.
now that is funny I hear whine come from all parts of the country.
“There are plenty of West Coast voters who might still be working…” A West Coast voters job is to watch games. So, it is easier to watch a game that starts at 4pm PST and 7pm PST, than a game that starts at 10pm EST. ESPN used to not even publish boxscores until the next day.
So it’s not an East Coast voters job to also watch games whenever they are played???
Its easier now but if the game comes on at 11 pm east coast time they record. If they see the score and its a blow out they probably only watch the high lights. If they watch the game they probably fast forward through much of the game.
The voters are generally the team beat writers. So, I doubt the Hawks beat writer is paid to watch Warriors games. They are covering the Hawks while the Warriors are playing. On the other hand, a Warriors beat writer can watch a most of a Hawks game before the have to do their job.
not speaking for anyone else but I’m in the Central zone with all my allegiances to west coast teams. It’s definitely harder for me to watch/pay attention/and finish games that start at 9:30 pm, although I try my hardest. Certainly am glad when my teams are on the road.
Butler is amazing. It’s a must watch game every time he play. He never ever disappoints. Still the top 10 player in the game! So much better than a guy like Dame. He still can carry a team. The best trade !! Go Warriors!!!!
Sullivan is a big LeBron fan so giving him a taste of his own bitterness.
Before Jimmy Warriors were yesterdays news. Now there is hope. Only fantasy fanboys see a playoff run. Draymond was nowhere to be seen in DPOY.
Imo he’s not top 4.
link to foxsports.com
So who is your top 4?
There are FanBoys. Then there are real fans. Intelligence is not for The Weak ……
On Feb 20 of this year after Wemby went down. Draymond was nowhere to be seen ……. OK
Not a knock on him. One of most important Warriors player ever. But not deserving this year. Please
link to bleachernation.com
He is a “has been”. He “was” a great defender. Like their championship hopes this year, it is close to zero. Ill give them a lightning in a bottle chance.