Draymond Green Coins Himself the Greatest Defender of All Time

Draymond Green has always had an immense amount of confidence and never had a problem putting himself at the top of the food chain. In an interview with NBC Bay Area, he deemed himself the greatest defender the league has ever seen, “I think I am the greatest defender to ever play this game.” But this isn’t the first time he has given himself this title. Almost two years ago, After a 114-111 win over the Portland Trailblazers, Green spoke with Marcus Thompson ll of the Atlantic and called himself the greatest defender of all time. “The greatest defender? Me. I believe that wholeheartedly”

His claims sparked a huge debate across the sports media world. Stephen A Smith commented under ESPN’s Instagram post and said “Ummmm, love Draymond! But what about Rodman, Joe Dumars, Scottie Pippen AND Michael Jordan...just to name a few??? Can’t go that far Dray.” ESPN’s Jay Bilas also commented “Bill Russell, Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman all holding on line 2. They’d like a word.” Shannon Sharpe gave his piece of mind too on his show Undisputed with Skip Bayless “He should be thrown in jail. They should’ve put a case on his butt for saying that out loud. Skip, Draymond Green is not a top 20 defender All time. The guy that I got in front of Draymond, I didn’t put Mr. Bill Russell, I didn’t put Havlicek, I didn’t put Clyde Frazier because I didn’t see them play. Is he better than Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson. Dwight Howard, Dikembe Mutombo, Tim Duncan, Ben Wallace. Okay let’s go forward, Dennis Rodman, Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Piepen, Kevin Garnett, Bobby Jones? He better than any of those? Okay let’s go guards. Is he better than Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Sidney Moncrief, Michael Cooper, Bruce Bowen, Alvin Robertson, Tony Allen. So which one of those guys is Draymond Green better than? That’s 19 guys. And I left off Mr Russell, left of Havlicek, left of Clyde Frazier. And he says he is the greatest ALL TIME?” Tony Allen also chimed in “ Big {baseball cap emoji}!!! Who stamped you? Who you clamp!? In the words of Jay-Z ‘We don’t believe u...u need more people.” And of course, Draymond responded, “I was waiting on you to stamp me Big homie, but your stamp book ran started running low in 2015 when we used you against your own team on the way to my 1st championship.” Needless to say, Draymond may be the only one who thinks he is the greatest defender of all time.

Green was 5th pick in the second round of the 2012 NBA draft. Many teams passed on the forward because of his size. He was a player without a defined position due to his size and skill set. Nine years later, what organizations deemed as his weakness has been his greatest strength. He possesses the strength to guard post players but the quickness and athleticism to defend guards.

Now, the former Michigan State forward has great accolades in his short time in the league to help his claims. He won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2017, 5x NBA All-NBA Defensive selection, led the NBA in steals in 2017 and is the ONLY player in NBA history to record a triple double with fewer than 10 points.

There is no doubt, Green is one of the great defenders of today’s game but of all time, he is up against some steep competition.