Here's What Draymond Green Said About Making All-Defensive Second Team

Being named an All-Defensive talent for the seventh time in his now ten-year NBA career, Golden State Warriors’ All-Star Draymond Green is not too pleased with being named to the Second Team instead of the First Team this year.

Draymond Green is one of the best defensive players in the entire NBA and he has really helped elevate the Golden State Warriors into being one of the best defensive teams in the league year-in and year-out.

This season, the Warriors finished first in the league in defensive rating and while he only played in 46 regular season games, Green’s impact defensively was as big as anyone else’s across the NBA.

However, due to playing close to half the season because of injuries, Green did not receive a lot of recognition for All-Defensive First Team, as he received just five first-place votes, the second-fewest out of all ten players to receive All-Defensive honors.

When speaking with reporters on Tuesday ahead of the NBA Finals, Draymond Green gave his thoughts on being named to the Second Team over the First Team.

“For me, it’s a slight,” Green said in regards to being named to the All-Defensive Second Team. “I think when I look at the First Team, I’m not sure I can pinpoint definitely not five guys that had a better defensive season than me, and there are no game requirements.”

Draymond considers it a “slight” to not be named to the All-Defensive First Team pic.twitter.com/1fyvVansUI

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 31, 2022

With Green on the floor this season, the Warriors’ defensive rating was 104.2 and without him, their rating plummeted to 112.0, per StatMuse. This is a very wide discrepancy in defensive rating/efficiency and it just goes to show what kind of an impact Draymond Green brings night-in and night-out for the Warriors.

“There’s not some amount that you have to play in order to win,” Green went on to say. “If there was an amount that you had to play in order to win, then I’d be an idiot sitting here saying that … There’s just kind of this thought from people that, ‘Ah, you played this amount of games.’ But what you had to see, I think it’d be hard for someone to come and show me better, especially not five guys.”

This season, the NBA All-Defensive First Team consisted of Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics), Mikal Bridges (Phoenix Suns), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) and Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz).

All five of these players received at least 55 first-place votes and compared to the ten members of the All-Defensive teams, Draymond Green received just 5 first-place votes and 34 overall voting points, the fewest points received out of any of the ten players.

Not being named to the All-Defensive First Team may feel like a slap in the face to Draymond Green this season, but overall, this is just one individual accomplishment.

Green’s mind is focused on the NBA Finals right now, as he has a chance to help the Warriors secure their fourth title in the last eight seasons. 

The Warriors dynasty is not over yet and alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and other high-level, All-Star-like talents, Green continues to be the heart and soul of the Golden State Warriors. 

---

Related stories on NBA Finals:

• Who Will Guard Who - Early Look At Potential Matchups In 2022 NBA Finals: The 2022 NBA Finals are set to begin on June 2 and here are some of the matchups we should be getting ready to see between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. CLICK HERE.
• What To Expect From Celtics-Warriors 2022 NBA Finals Matchup?: The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors will begin playing the 2022 NBA Finals on Thursday night in San Francisco and here is what we should expect to see from this championship series. CLICK HERE.
• 2022 NBA Finals - Defense Wins Championships: The 2022 NBA Finals are set as the Boston Celtics will take on the Golden State Warriors in a battle of the league’s top two defenses during the 2021-22 regular season. CLICK HERE.