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Towards the end of the regular season, Draymond Green's case to win the second Defensive Player of the Year award of his career was picking up steam, and it reached a point where the Golden State Warriors veteran was openly clamoring for voters to reward him with the acclaim. In the end, the voters decided to reward fourth-year big man Evan Mobley with the DPOY award after he played a starring role in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to an Eastern Conference-best 64-18 record.
Mobley was well-deserving of the award for how excellent he was in anchoring the Cavs' defense that ended up ranking eighth in defensive rating this past season. Green ended up finishing third in the voting, behind Mobley and breakout guard Dyson Daniels, who led the league in total steals in his first season as a full-time starter with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Warriors veteran, however, holds no ill will towards the voters; in fact, Green is celebrating the accomplishments of two of the brightest young defenders in the association.
“Ain’t much you can do about it. This ain’t my first rodeo. This ain’t my first time being in the race, feeling like I should win and not win,” Green said on the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast, via Joaquin Ruiz of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I’ve been through that before. No big deal to me, but I will say congratulations to Evan Mobley – incredible. I’ve been a fan of his since USC. To see him continue to grow [and] continue to become the player everybody thought that he’d become. … I’m happy as hell to see him get that.”
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At this point, Green should be pretty secure with what he's accomplished in his career; he is a four-time NBA champion, and an Olympic gold medalist who's going to be surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer when all is said and done.
Warriors' Draymond Green empathizes with Dyson Daniels
Draymond Green knows what Dyson Daniels is feeling; there was once a time when Green was still looking to prove himself and have his efforts be validated by such an award, and Daniels is still at that point of his career. But if the Hawks guard keeps up what he did this past season, then he will be in the running for the DPOY award for the foreseeable future.
“I know, for sure, Dyson Daniels was crushed. I know that feeling [of] your first time being in the running and you don’t come up with it. I know that feeling. I’ve experienced it before. If anything, I feel for Dyson Daniels because he had a great defensive year, and this is his first time going through that … like, ‘Damn, I didn’t get it,'” Green added.
