The Golden State Warriors made one of the quickest rebuilds in recent memory. For decades, they had been one of the worst teams in the league, but everything started to change when they drafted guys like Klay Thompson in 2011 and Draymond Green in 2012 as the main supporting cast to Steph Curry.

But before becoming one of the best offensive teams over the past five years, Green told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami that when he was drafted, the squad's primary focus was defense.

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“…we came in and you could just tell there was a focus and a commitment level to being better. And the No. 1 thing was improving on the defensive end. I remember coming in … we got here in the summertime. We all came in right after Labor Day and at that point training camp wasn’t starting until October 1st. So you’re talking three and a half weeks of everybody coming back early and getting work in together and then playing pickup. The whole focus — like literally (then-assistant coach) Darren Erman’s got us going like 45 minutes to an hour of just straight defensive drills. And then we would play. You could just tell the focus level … and the goal was to be better defensively. And that’s the year we started to consistently improve each year.”

Green's development became crucial to the Warriors' success, as he became the team's best defender. The rest of the team then followed suit, and their consistent effort on the defensive end completed their turnaround from mediocrity to the cusp of a third straight championship.