In a candid interview, Warriors forward Draymond Green outlines why he believes he deserves the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He emphasizes his ability to never be a defensive liability, highlighting his unique skill set: rim protection, on‑ball pick‑and‑roll trapping without needing help, and the capacity to guard multiple positions (1‑5) in a single possession. Green stresses his defensive basketball IQ—anticipating plays before they develop, reading opponents’ tendencies, and disrupting entire offensive systems from the weak side. He contrasts his on‑ball prowess with other DPOY candidates who excel as help‑side shot blockers or steal specialists (Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels, Jaden Tripp). The conversation also drifts into historical reflections, noting surprise that Tim Duncan never won the award, and praising past defenders like Kenyon Martin and Kobe Bryant for their disruptive, high‑intensity defense. Throughout, Green’s tone is confident and proud, positioning his intelligence and psychological impact—fouling, trash‑talking, and pre‑game scouting preparation—as intangible assets that set him apart from peers.
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What separates you from the other Defensive Player of the Year candidates? Like, what's the diff— like, paint the picture of you and the other defensive, uh, candidates.
I think, I think for me, just never being a liability in any situation, you know. No matter what the situation is defensively, I'm fit for it. And I think you know, if there's anything that separates me from the rest of the guys, which by the way, Evan Mobley, incredible, incredible defender. Has incredible tools, incredible length, great shot blocker. Dyson Daniels, incredible defender. What he's doing on the steal front, gotta take your hat off to him. Tripp, my young fella, incredible defender. What he does protecting the rim, special.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
But I think for me personally, I protect the rim. I can guard the pick and roll. I can trap the pick and roll and still guard my man without help. Which I think is a skill that I have in the NBA that I don't think anyone else possess. I don't think there's anyone in the NBA that can trap Damian Lillard on the ball screen and get back to Giannis when Giannis catch the ball in the pocket with no help. I don't think there's anyone can do that. And so in turn, being able to guard two guys in one possession and not force someone to have to help me, I think that covers up a lot of mistakes. I think that saves a lot of energy for guys that don't need to make extra rotations. And so I think that's what separates me largely. And then also my basketball IQ.
Yeah.
I think I see plays way before they happen. You know, I can spot something, I can sniff something out in a heartbeat. I'm quick enough, I'm strong enough to react and address the issue. You know, if that's the guy I want to come downhill and deliver a blow to, and when I say deliver a blow, I mean that shoulder, I can take the shoulder and still hold my ground. You know, if that's the guy, he's fast and he's trying to get downhill, I'm quick enough to get downhill with him and still get an attempt, you know, try to affect the shot at the rim. And so I think that's what separates me from guys is just being able to obviously guard positions 1 through 5. Nightly, no matter who that 1 is or who that 5 is. But like I said, just my IQ and reading the plays. I take a great deal of pride in fucking up your favorite team's offense. You know, as much as I enjoy locking one guy down, I take more pride in locking your entire offense down. And making your offense, your coach have to figure something else out. Making your offense have to make adjustments. I take more pride in that. And so for me, there's a lot of pride in how you guarding your matchup, how you guarding the ball. But I almost enjoy more messing up your offense from the weak side. I think when you start talking about guys who can guard the ball and guys who can be great help side defender, I think I'm elite at all of that.
No, I love it. I love it.
I think that's what separates me.
I agree. Um, I would say when you're looking at the candidates, a lot of, uh, a lot of the candidates are help side defenders, weak side shot blockers, plug in the hole, great defenders, um, get a lot of blocks or get a lot of steals, but it's not on ball.
Yep.
For you, if I'm a coach and we're playing against the Warriors Of course I'm worried about Steph Curry, but I'm also worried about Draymond Green, right? And I think the one thing that you said that take— that you take it to another notch is you're a disruptor.
Mm-hmm.
It's not just the pick and roll, it's the pick and roll, the backdoor cut. You know, you find your way into the mix. In every play. And so just like offense, which I think, you know, you're involved in every play, but defensively, you're in a— you're involved in every play and what's happening on the weak side, right? And I think that disruptor, right, is what really separates you, because in order to disrupt someone's ecosystem, you have to know what everybody does.
Yeah.
And a lot of times people get credit for being, you know, uh, good defenders, on teams that win, score a lot of points, you know, things like that. But you gotta look at where's the disruption. When a coach comes in and they going over a scouting report, coaches usually don't go over defense of players. That's one that separates you because you have to be in the pregame discussion going into the game because you actually— you cause commotion from the time the game starts. So they gotta pay attention to Draymond Green. Not only is he a great defender, but he'll talk you out your game, he'll foul you out your game, he'll push you out your game, he'll talk shit to the coach, he'll call one of your plays out in the most opportune time. Right. And That's intelligence. And so intelligence, you know, I just want people to know intelligence is something that is earned. It's earned. It's like a PhD. Yeah, that part.
So I got—
I gotta give you that, like a, you know, your PhD, you know, from a defensive, just intelligence perspective.
I appreciate that, man.
Dr. Defense.
Let's go.
That's hard.
Let's go.
It's hard. We need some Draymond Green, we need some Draymond Green signs. Come on, man, and Chase.
Let's get it. Speaking of Defensive Player of the Year, I think somebody said to me the other night, which is always a constant reminder, they asked me a question. Is it crazy that Tim Duncan never won a Defensive Player of the Year? Which I couldn't believe.
I can't believe that either.
Well, let me take that back. I can believe it because I knew it, but I still can't believe the fact that Timmy D never won a Defensive Player of the Year award. It's crazy. It makes no sense to me. But they were kind of asking me why. And what I wanted to ask you is, à la Tim Duncan, are there any other players in the league that you're surprised has never won a Defensive Player of the Year award?
Kenyon Martin.
K-Mart was a hell of a defender.
Kenyon Martin. I saw Kenyon Martin. Kenyon Martin was a lot like you, bro.
Yeah, he guarded.
He was a lot like, yeah.
And then he gonna switch on Kobe.
Man, he switched on to me. And if he foul you, you getting fouled.
It was a foul, hard foul.
And so you gotta think about, you know, when somebody like that that's gonna foul you hard, guard you hard, and will push you in the stands and ready for the scrap. So there's a certain like, okay, I got, I gotta become a little bit softer.
That part.
In my approach with Akeem and Martin. I say Kobe too.
Kobe definitely should have won a different Defensive Player of the Year.
Because he picks up every challenge, every superstar. If it's two superstars, right? He stepped up to the challenge and I think a lot of times, like, when people looking at defenders, they looking at, oh, he scored this, or, or Kobe and T-Mac matched up, and they looking at the offense, and it's like Kobe may have 30, T-Mac may have 40, but you gotta look at the game to see how he stepped up to the challenge. Like, absolutely, a defender don't care about getting crossed up or dunked on or the game-winning shot because that's I gotta win more of those than I lose, you know? But they gonna play those highlights forever, forever, forever, you know? And then I would probably say—
Before you say another one, I'ma just give you a hidden gem. Makes complete sense of why Kenyon Martin is the way he is. That brother was born in Saginaw, Michigan.
Okay, okay.
You know what I'm saying? So he got that—
Kmart from the Sag?
Yeah, Kmart, who was born in Saginaw, Michigan. Okay, okay, Kmart. Got that Saginaw water, that Saginaw— We just cut a different way. Just cut a different way. So shout out to Kmart. Shout out to Kmart.
