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If there’s anyone who’s best suited to snatch the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in the final weeks of the season, it’s the Warriors’ bold and brash veteran forward Draymond Green.
For the second time this season, his candidacy for the award came up, this time when a Steph Curry-less Golden State defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, 104-93, in part because of Green’s impeccable defensive performance on Giannis Antetokounmpo. In response to a question about his chances to win, the 35-year-old forward told reporters, “1 million percent, I have a case, and I will continue to build that case for these next 13 games. Tonight was a prime example of that.”
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It’s far from the most outlandish statement Green has made this season, and not just because he’s said some pretty wild stuff in front of, and away from, his podcast mic. For months, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama was the runaway favorite to bring the trophy back to San Antonio, especially after Thunder center Chet Holmgren went down early with a hip injury. However, the French big man’s season-ending blood clot opened the race wide open for other contenders, including Green.
The race is tighter than ever. Outside of the Dubs’ vet, there is the Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley — currently the favorite among bookies — the Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr., the Hawks’ Dyson Daniels and even the Thunder’s Luguentz Dort. Each player has a stronger statistical case than Green in at least one category, with Green’s biggest numbers argument being his impressive defensive box plus-minus rating of 2.9. That’s not exactly the golden ticket for an award like this.
Yet the strength of Green’s candidacy stems just as much from what he can do off the court as from what he can do on it. He has a serious campaigning advantage compared to his fellow contenders. Nobody in that group is as media-savvy as he is. Whether fans like it or not, that’s an important component to winning DPOY, as the voters are all sportswriters and broadcasters. Green said Tuesday that there are voters who only look at box scores beyond the performances they witness — whether it’s on national television or in person — but there are just as likely to be voters relying on built narratives, ones that Green could control on top of what he’s doing defensively in games.
Green also has the upper hand when it comes to exposure. The Warriors have six national television games remaining this season so far. That’s six chances to display what he’s capable of to the voting populace and two more than the next-highest team among the candidates — Jackson’s Grizzlies have four. Combine that with the fact that Jimmy Butler has elevated the Warriors as a whole, and voters are very likely to see a rejuvenated Green playing like it’s the 2016-17 season all over again, generating buzz just in time for them to fill out their ballots.
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He’s already getting a bit of help from the team, too. On an episode of the “Warriors Plus Minus” podcast published Wednesday morning, Raymond Ridder, Golden State’s senior vice president of communications, asked the hosts if they were “talking defensive player of the year?”
To be clear: The 35-year-old veteran’s defensive performances alone should put him in the conversation for this award. His stats are some of the best they’ve been in years, he’s regularly slowed down some of the league’s biggest names — twice with Curry out of the lineup — and he’s doing all this at an age where most defenders aren’t flourishing unless they’re Hall of Fame-caliber players. But a player of Green’s talent shouldn’t just be happy to be nominated. He should want to win the whole damn thing. Right now, his best shot is to combine Draymond the player with Draymond the politician and campaign.
