Draymond Green is looking to cement his place among the greatest defenders in history

Last season, Draymond Green won his fifth selection in First team – all defensivewhich was added to the four in the second. Those nine total appearances on one of the two defensive teams in the regular season put him on par with Michael Jordan, Gary Payton or Hakeem Olajiwon.

But also at the gate of a very exclusive club, where there are those who have signed up to this list ten times. There are only five of them: Tim Duncan (15), Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett (12), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11) and Scottie Pippen (10). Therefore, you don’t have to go far to find extra motivation.

“When you see a list like that, it immediately becomes your motivation, your ‘why?’ I have to give everything to be in it. When we look at it, we tell ourselves that we want to be there. It’s amazing. Honestly, it wears you down”points to the four-time NBA champion for The Athletic. “We always want to have more awards and I’d like to add this one, just to tell myself that a kid from Saginaw could see it and say his name is on it. It’s a huge, huge goal.”

Challenge Victor Vembanyama for as long as possible

The Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 and a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection as well as a true barometer of one of the best teams in history, Draymond Green already has his name etched on the list of the greatest defenders of all time. But the idea of ​​always doing better and above all to keep fighting the younger generation are exciting challenges.

Because Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels, Lugenz Dort, Amen Thompson — his companions on the 2025 All-Defensive First Team — are all under 26 years old. Not forgetting for example Chet Holmgren or Jaren Jackson Jr., or obviously Victor Vembanyama, called to became the best defender in the NBA a long time.

In short, a new wave is coming and the “old” Draymond Green (35 years old) wants to resist. “For a competitor like me, the idea is to ask yourself how to stop this movement for another year”he describes. “And I don’t want Vembanjama to fail, but as a competitor who has been in this race for ten years, the question arises: how do I stay in the race?”

“How much longer will I be able to compete with the youngsters?”

If the Frenchman is now the heavy favorite for the DPOI trophy, the interior of the Warriors clearly does not want to give up just yet. “It’s my state of mind”he continues. “I’m not telling myself that the hell he’s going to win. No. He’s one of the best and when one of the best is there, we want to compete with him, even at 35-36 years old. Last season, nothing made me happier than the age of the players who are with me in the first defense team. How long will I be able to compete with the youth before I want to compete with the youth?” I wonder how long I can last before I retire.

Would you already have an idea of ​​the answer? How much longer does he envision playing in the NBA?

“If someone had asked me a year ago, I would have said another year or two. But my body feels good and it’s getting better every year. I’m still having fun playing at a high level, setting goals, going through the process and trying to achieve them. So I wouldn’t say a year or two anymore. I don’t put exact numbers either. Like I always say, time will tell when basketball comes.”

How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.