"I don't know what league everybody else been watching" - Draymond Green still confident of winning Defensive Player of the Year
The Chase Center crowd erupted into a standing ovation as Draymond Green returned to the Golden State Warriors lineup on Tuesday.
The three-time champion laced up after missing nearly two months of the season and his candidacy for the Defensive Player of the Year has taken a hit. No player in NBA history has won the award after missing more than 30 games but Green believes he still deserves to be in the running for the award.
Green addressed the media regarding his DPOY candidacy and mentioned the landscape of the race. He emphasized how no other player has made a significant mark while he was absent and that he can still win the award. He said:
"I've probably missed about 32 [games] on this stretch. And in those 32 games, I don't know what league everybody else been watching but I have not seen anyone solidify themselves as Defensive Player of the Year..."
"Unless you just going by like this guy played this amount of games and their team had this record then great and you may come up with a guy"
Draymond Green believes the award shouldn't be given out solely on the basis of the number of games played and team record. He gave a shoutout to the Phoenix Suns' Mikal Bridges and Memphis Grizzlies' Jaren Jackson Jr. but still reiterated that no one has solidified themselves for the DPOY title. He continued:
"But when I look around the league, Mikal Bridges has been really good defensively and Jaren Jackson has picked it up defensively but I don't think anyone has solidified themselves and I think we can all agree that through [the first] 34 games, it was already solidified so yeah I think I still can."
Draymond Green does make an interesting point about his absence and the landscape of the DPOY race. Unlike the MVP ladder, the competition for the league's best Defensive Player has been quite chaotic and unsettling.
His superstar teammate Stephen Curry was the overwhelming favorite to win the MVP award but he entered a shooting slump this season and other players quickly climbed the ladder. His candidacy is practically over due to just a few poor shooting games and unfortunate losses.
However, the DPOY ladder is quite fluid and Draymond Green can certainly make his mark on the race again. Many publications, such as NBA.com itself, have ranked Giannis Antetokounmpo as the favorite to win his second DPOY award while certain ESPN analysts have Bridges as their favorite.
Certain oddsmakers also believe that Rudy Gobert is the betting favorite to win his fourth award and that essentially proves Green's point that nobody has solidified themselves yet.
Speaking on this matter on his own show as well, The Draymond Green Podcast, he said:
"Obviously if I didn't get hurt I was running away with that, and you know I was running away with it, because no one still has solidified themselves, and I had solidified myself by Game 30."
The Golden State Warriors were ranked first in defensive rating to begin the season, and they were so historically great that even after Draymond Green's absence and their recent slump, they are still ranked first. They have certainly declined that category but have maintained their league-best rating. Many analysts believe that the team's defensive struggles without him is more ammunition for his DPOY candidacy.
The Warriors recent defensive struggles has shown @JoeGiglioSports just how valuable Draymond Green is on that end of the floor 💪
Is he worth a DPOY bet?
@BetQLDaily: twitch.tv/betql https://t.co/5WOtauTafq
Draymond Green's return sparks a 47-point night from Stephen Curry
The three future Hall of Famers reunited after 1005 games and the sports world loved every minute of it. Draymond Green showed practically no rust after being away for nearly two months and his impact on the floor was instantaneous. He finished the night with a game-high +24 in just 20 minutes off the bench.
His first action back on the floor was an assist to Stephen Curry for a three-pointer. The Warriors ran their patented "split action" on the right wing and Draymond Green instantly read the defense correctly and gave Curry an open look.
The Draymond Green effect on Steph Curry:
1) Allowed Steph to do damage off the ball instead of doing heavy-duty on-ball playmaking
2) Set screens that forced the defense to have to choose between coverages, with each one having their own pitfall
ICYMI:
goldenstateofmind.com/2022/3/15/2297… https://t.co/e38XCMv9vX
Amazingly, 41 of Curry's 47 points came in just 15 minutes, the same 15 minutes that Green was on the floor with him. In the 20 minutes Curry played without Green, he scored just 6 points.
After watching the trio of Thompson, Green and Curry together, many analysts and fans have renewed their faith in the Golden State Warriors.