Warriors’ all-time great Draymond Green adds another honor to his resume
SAN FRANCISCO Draymond Green s Hall of Fame legacy as one of the NBA s all-time great stoppers was further solidified on Thursday morning The -year-old frontcourt standout was named to the league s first-team all-defense squad for the fifth time in his career Green has also been named to the NBA s all-defense second company four times Green was an overwhelming choice for the first crew receiving first-place and second-place votes from the voters No other Warrior received even a single second-place vote Green joined Evan Mobley Dyson Daniels Lu Dort and San Leandro native Amen Thompson on the all-defense squad Green previously came in third in Defensive Athlete of the Year voting in April behind Mobley the winner and Daniels The Michigan State alum anchored what was the NBA s top defense in the second half of the season a run of form that coincided with the unit s - record after trading for Jimmy Butler Green put up steals and blocks per challenge during the regular season but his impact went beyond the numbers Statistics don t dependably tell the story Green revealed during the regular season Particular guys get the stats and get picked on Certain guys get the stats and can be a liability to their defense they take too various chances and their defense breaks down We don t do that He had a defining moment in the first round of the playoffs when he made a stop on Alperen Sengun in the final seconds of Match against Houston Warriors coach Steve Kerr repeatedly called Green the best defender in the league and compared him to Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman after a late-season tournament against Milwaukee You can see the parallels the length the physicality and ultimately it s up here it s the brain and Dennis and Scottie were the two smartest defenders I ve ever been around and Draymond is amazing in that regard Kerr mentioned The Warriors reached the second round of the playoffs before an injury to superstar Steph Curry sent them to a five-game loss to the Timberwolves in the West semifinals
