In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green, joined by analysts Jason Timpf and Colin Cowherd, debates the recent media criticism of Luka Dončić’s defensive play in the 2024 NBA playoffs. Green argues the narrative is unfair, noting that Dončić’s defensive effort this postseason matches or exceeds his regular‑season level and that the criticism is a lazy, surface‑level attempt to blame a single player for team losses. Timpf agrees Dončić has improved defensively but stresses his role is not to be an elite defender; instead, teammates must adjust and cover for his limitations, using analogies to Kobe‑Kyrie dynamics and referencing other players (PJ Washington, Draymond Green Jr., Tim Hardaway Jr.) who can shoulder extra defensive duties. Cowherd adds brief agreement. The conversation also touches on Dončić’s occasional late‑game free‑throw misses, the importance of understanding teammates’ strengths and weaknesses, and practical defensive advice (e.g., forcing a straight‑line drive to make it easier to help). The segment includes a sponsor read for Hyperice’s NormaTec Elite compression boots. Overall, the panel concludes that while Dončić can become a better defender, expecting him to be “All‑NBA defense” is unrealistic and unnecessary for championship success.
Chapters
Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. There's been a lot of talk over the last 2 days about Luka's defense. And quite frankly, I think it's bullshit because he's not defending any differently than he has before. And if I'm honest, I've seen in pockets of this playoff, like run for them, in pockets, him defend at the highest level I've ever seen him defend before. And it's always like, oh, they're down 3-0, here's our chance to attack him. Here's our chance to attack his defense. And I hate shit like that. Y'all ain't attack him when he had 40, 20, and 15 on somebody. Don't attack his defense now because it's the obvious thing that your little basketball brains can talk about. Be like, I don't like that. And like I said, I think at times throughout this playoffs he's been at an elite level defensively by his standards. What do you, what, what, number one, what do you think of what they've made of his, of his defense over the last couple days? But number two also, where you need Luka to be from a player standpoint. Obviously you've played with championship players, but also from a coach standpoint, where you need him to be on that side of the floor.
Yeah, no, I understand exactly what you mean about the larger kind of narrative around, like, let's single something out that has always been there maybe, but we're gonna make a big deal about it now. Luka's never been all the NBA defense, so it's not something that we're surprised about that he isn't consistently elite. But to the point you made in this playoff run, you have seen him take 2, 3 steps forward in putting the effort into that end of the floor that we had never seen in the past.
Absolutely.
Ever. And I think in one of his post-game interviews, maybe against the Clippers or OKC. He actually jokingly said, 'cause they talked about his defense and it was pretty good in that game. And he was like, hey, I mean it's the playoffs, like, and I wanna win. So I am gonna put a little more into it now than I normally would. So I think he has improved, but of course in order to win it all, Right? Like there are times where you have to become something that maybe you haven't been as much before. And he, but, but, and he's showing a willingness to try and be that. But you can't ask him to go 40, 15, 9, and guard the other team's best players and rebound and take charges. It, it doesn't work that way. There's a reason why. Yep. Steph has always been a better defender than people have given him credit for. But he can't guard the other team's best player for 30 minutes a game.
Absolutely not.
That's not in alignment with the role that he actually needs to play best. So I think Luka has improved. It's something I think he'll continue to learn and grow from. I think this experience, assuming they still come up short, As you know, once you kind of get a little taste of it and you kind of start to understand, damn, I thought I had enough, but I really don't. I thought I was given enough, but I really wasn't.
Yeah.
I thought I would slide my feet, but the tape don't lie. Like now I gotta live with this until next season. My guess is he'll be a better defender throughout the regular season next year to continue to show that commitment that he's willing to do it 'cause he's probably gonna feel like we have a legit chance to win an NBA championship if we keep this group together. So as a teammate, I would of course want him to be better in situations, timely defensive effort and energy. And the same thing to me as a coach for my best players that I know they carry the water so far, bro.
Like— Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
We can't ask him to also pour everybody cup and serve them and make sure that the other people are never uncomfortable. Like we have to also have his back. So that means if Luka is Kobe and I'm Kyrie, like I have to do more on defense to actually make up for the fact that I can't ask Kobe to chase Ray Allen off staggers, baseline screens, screen to screener actions and go play offense the way we need him to play offense in order to beat the Celtics. I have to take the challenge of chasing Ray Allen. So that's, that's almost more on me than it is Cole. And so that's—
Absolutely.
For Dallas, PJ Washington and Draymond Green Jr. have been playing that role. So now, okay, can Kyrie play better defense? Can Tim Hardaway Jr. play better defense? Can other guys do more to cover up for the fact that we can't ask Luka to be the MVP on defense too, man. He basically third in the league in MVP overall. Like, that's not really fair all the way around in my, in my opinion. So that's a long way of saying I would expect him to be able to give us more when necessary, but there's no way I'm asking him to become all NBA defense when that's not really who he is and we don't necessarily need him to be in order to win. Mm-hmm.
Before we get into it, this episode is brought to you in part by Hyperice. As you know, as a 12-year veteran myself, uh, Draymond Green, a lot of guys miss out on the recovery that it takes to play in the NBA. It's important that my body can bounce back as I get older. Um, as I've told you all before, I am a super big fan of Hyperice, especially the NormaTec boots, because I just feel like Superman when I come out of them. And as you all know, um, or may not know, I'm letting you know. The Normatec Elites are new. They're the best. They ditched all those extra hoses and the control units from the old model so you can get on the go. If you need the Normatec Elites, they are great. Uh, this one is fully self-contained with a small set of buttons to select your compression level. Super easy to travel with and to get set up after a hard workout, after a game, Or if it's for you who's not an athlete, after a hard day at work or walking around or chasing the kids around, because by the way, as I get older, chasing these kids around is tough. And my son calls me old on the daily. So these are for you as well. On top of that, the NormaTec Elite packs 4 hours of battery life, which is enough juice to get full leg compression cycles in before games, after games, on the plane, after work, before work, at work. How about that? Yeah. At work. You saw me podcasting in the NormaTec Elites, and I was at work. That is my day job right now, as we have lost and the finals are going on and we're not playing. So don't get me started on the tech inside this thing. The HyperIce has been pioneering recovery science for years, and the brand new NormaTec Elite takes it to another dimension with 7 different compression levels to choose from. As I said before, it's not just for pro athletes, it is for you. Whoever is not a pro athlete, which most of you aren't pro athletes, and it is for you. So shop all your warmup and recovery needs at hyperice.com. Use code Draymond. For those of you who hate the name Draymond because you hate me, but you watch this podcast because you hate me, I got a gift for you. Use the code Draymond on hyperice.com for 15% off your order today. Exclusions may apply. I agree 100%. I think it's garbage that the lazy folks on TV try to pinpoint it out all of a sudden. Like, "Oh, it's his defense." Like, "It's his defense the reason they're losing the game." And it's like, bro, he's playing more defense than he ever played. Why did they get here all of a sudden? And now it's his defense that's losing them the game. I think that's lazy. I think that's garbage. His defense hadn't been great. That's cool. But come on with that narrative.
You can say free throws more so than defense.
Yeah.
But he historically at times in late games, maybe due to fatigue or, you know, just from a mindset perspective, like just miss a free throw or two that, Not because he's not a great shooter, he just happens to miss 'em. He missed one late in the OKC game that almost cost him a game. So you could point to that even more so than the defense to say, you know, as something you wanna point out. But anyway, I know we could go on forever.
For sure. No, and you know what I always tell my guys, like, for any guy that's a little less of a defender, right? Yo, just don't give up a straight line drive. Like if you can make him literally just take a small veer off the path that he's trying to go on, just a small veer, I can get there and help and cover it up for you. Yeah. Like if you just give him a straight line drive, it's hard for me to not overhelp and give up something crazy over here because I overhelp. So like, just give me, One slide, like if you give me one slide that you're still in front and he get past you on the second slide, great, no problem. I'll be there, I'll cover my man and I'll cover him too. Like, don't, like, not for you to worry about.
You got to know about your teammate. Like you understand your teammate's strengths and weaknesses and how to cover up for those things. And so Phil Jackson was one of the guys that, like he would talk about Toni Kukoc when they were in Chicago. And how like they started to understand, like if they saw Tony on the island with some of the greatest players to ever play the game, they weren't gonna just leave him over there. Slide, make him turn, you know, make him use a change of direction. And then now we can provide some support. I personally think, yeah, Luka could be better, but he has put way more possessions together on the defensive end where he's at least turned the guy a couple times. Or at least forced him to change direction a little bit to still get downhill. You know? Yeah, we could definitely point it out. Point it out.
But we're this close to crowning an NBA champion. I like the Celtics, by the way, in 6. Jaylen Brown's gonna be my MVP, and I love the Celtics in game 1. But sign up, 90 seconds, put in the code COLIN, C-O-L-I-N, DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. If you're a new customer, bet $5, that's it. Just bet $5 and you'll get $150 instantly in bonus bets. The code COLIN, C-O-L-I-N, shows them that you're a new customer to get $150 in bonus bets only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. I'm leaning Celtics in 6, baby.
