Warriors’ Draymond Green among three finalists for NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year
HOUSTON Warriors big man Draymond Green is a finalist for the - Defensive Athlete of the Year award The NBA reported Sunday before the Warriors series opener against the Rockets that Green was in the running for the award alongside Cleveland s Evan Mobley and Atlanta s Dyson Daniels Green averaged steals and blocks per meeting in the regular season He was named the Western Conference s Defensive Athlete of the Month for March During Green s strong play in March Warriors coach Steve Kerr compared Green to two of his former Chicago Bulls teammates during the s You can see the parallels the length the physicality and ultimately it s up here it s the brain and Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen were the two smartest defenders I ve ever been around and Draymond is amazing in that regard Kerr commented The versatile big man is an eight-time All-Defensive unit selection and won the - Defensive Competitor of the Year award Related Articles Warriors stay on message to open playoff series vs Rockets NorCal native named award finalist Kurtenbach National Wrestling Association The Rockets playoff plan is clear Maul Steph Curry Will home-court advantage matter in Warriors Rockets series Here s what the numbers say Matchups Where do Warriors have advantage over Rockets in NBA playoff series How Warriors plan to combat Houston s rough-and-tumble style in playoffs He has long been viewed as a top defensive competitor for his ability to guard both on the perimeter and near the rim This season he has taken on more minutes as a center eventually taking over the starting role in the middle as the Warriors have struggled to find solutions at the spot Green has publicly politicked for the award in current months in press conferences and interviews and via his own platform on his podcast When I look around the league I don t see numerous players impacting the tournament on the defensive end the way I do Green declared I don t see numerous players perfectly throwing off other teams offenses the way I do
