SAN FRANCISCO – Draymond Green’s Hall of Fame legacy as one of the NBA’s all-time great stoppers was further solidified on Thursday morning.
The 35-year-old frontcourt standout was named to the league’s first-team all-defense squad for the fifth time in his career. Green has also been named to the NBA’s all-defense second team four times.
Green was an overwhelming choice for the first team, receiving 81 first-place and 17 second-place votes from the 100 voters. No other Warrior received even a single second-place vote.
Green joined Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels, Lu Dort and San Leandro native Amen Thompson on the all-defense team.
Green previously came in third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in April behind Mobley, the winner, and Daniels.
The Michigan State alum anchored what was the NBA’s top defense in the second half of the season, a run of form that coincided with the team’s 23-8 record after trading for Jimmy Butler.
Green put up 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game during the regular season, but his impact went beyond the numbers.
“Statistics don’t always tell the story,” Green said during the regular season. “Some guys get the stats and get picked on. Some guys get the stats and can be a liability to their defense, they take too many chances and their defense breaks down. We don’t do that.”
He had a defining moment in the first round of the playoffs when he made a stop on Alperen Sengun in the final seconds of Game 4 against Houston.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr repeatedly called Green “the best defender in the league” and compared him to Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman after a late-season game against Milwaukee.
“You can see the parallels, the length, the physicality, and ultimately it’s up here, it’s the brain, and Dennis and Scottie were the two smartest defenders I’ve ever been around, and Draymond is amazing in that regard,” Kerr said.
The Warriors reached the second round of the playoffs before an injury to superstar Steph Curry sent them to a five-game loss to the Timberwolves in the West semifinals.
