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It's been nearly 25 years since Eminem and Dr. Dre collaborated on the Grammy Award winning single Forgot About Dre. This track served as a defiant and momentous return for the 34-year-old Dre. On Wednesday night, Golden State Warriors 34-year-old forward Draymond Green stepped on the floor against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans and delivered a message to his critics around the league… don't you dare forget about Dray.
“I spent all summer watching everyone talk about Chet [Holmgren] and Wemby and what they're doing defensively, don't forget about Dray… Every game, I'm coming out here motivated defensively to get back on the First Team All-Defense.”
– Draymond Greenpic.twitter.com/oItkjLLpL1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 31, 2024
After Draymond Green's 14 point, 4 rebound, 6 assist, 5 block masterclass in a win against the Pelicans — a game in which Dray was the primary reason Zion Williamson shot just 5-for-20 from the field — the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year received rave reviews from players and coaches within the Warriors organization.
“He's still one of the best defenders in the world, that's for sure,” coach Steve Kerr said after the game, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “The way he battled out there, but also the way he led, his energy, talking to the team at timeouts, at halftime. He was fantastic.”
Even one of the newest members of the Golden State Warriors, Buddy Hield, who has only been a teammate of Draymond Green for five games, knows the impact of the veteran forward.
“He’s the heart and soul of the team,” Hield said after the game. “You hear people talk about it, just watching from the outside. But his presence, he’s so vocal. The way he talks, everybody listens.”
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Draymond Green still playing with a chip on his shoulder
Nowadays everybody wants to talk about Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama and this new generation of NBA centers, but let's not forget that before these long-armed, floor-spacing monsters arrived in the NBA, there was a different sort of unicorn roaming among NBA big men.
Draymond Green may be undersized, even among power forwards, but it was his ability to play bigger than his size, guard multiple positions, and serve as the voice of the Warriors defense, all while also facilitating the Dubs offense, that unlocked so much of what made Golden State so great, and allowed them to become the league's marquee dynasty of the last ten years.
In that time, Draymond Green has made an All-Defensive Team eight times, and he's been the runner-up in the Defensive Player of the Year voting twice. Had the Warriors won the 2016 NBA Finals, he'd likely have an NBA Finals MVP on his resume too, but even without it, Dray should be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, just as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Steve Kerr should be too.
But that may be many years away, because Draymond Green continues to prove he remains one of the league's very best defensive players.
