Draymond Green is not a “Best Defender Of All-Time” candidate because he’s the best 1-on-1 defender ever.
He switches on pick-and-rolls quickly and with intelligence.
He has the tenacity, agility, and strength to guard all positions in today’s small-ball oriented NBA.
He’s an inspiring team leader that gets everyone on the same page and has contagious frenetic energy that overwhelms Warriors opponents.
He’s the lifeblood of one of the league’s greatest offenses and defenses of all time.
If you watch as little as 1 NBA game a month, you should know there isn’t a single player in the world that can guard every position 1-on-1 at an elite level. Klay Thompson is a phenomenal defender, but you would never expect him to hold Anthony Davis. Dwight Howard in his prime was a phenomenal rim protector, but no coach of his wished for him to get switched onto an explosive, ball-dominant guard on the pick-and-roll.
Long story short,
this bullshit-ass criteria that the best defender of all time should be able to contain a prime Shaquille O’Neal
is fucking ridiculous
and says nothing about the actual defensive impact a player has on the game.
Draymond Green is among the greatest defensive NBA players of all time, if not the greatest—with strong arguments to be made for Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Michael Jordan. It is also true that he wouldn’t have a chance in hell at stopping a prime Shaq without fouling out in the 3rd quarter, just like every other center tasked with guarding Shaq during his time with the Magic, Lakers, and Suns.
What amazes me about this long-lived meme of an argument is that none of these Draymond-couldn’t-guard-Shaq idiots never apply the same argument to whoever their GOAT defensive player is. Why don’t you photoshop an image of Jordan guarding Shaq and see how stupid that looks?
How about an image of Olajuwon with his hands flailing trying to hang with Steph Curry at the 3-point line.
I would say something like, “stop investing so much energy into hate,” but hating is easy. Most people do what’s easy. It’s a common human flaw. So I’ll say this: you’re welcome. For every 10,000 neckass Twitter users who see an arrogant, undersized power-forward talking out of his ass, there’s someone like me to save the culture from the perils of ignorance and remind you that Draymond Green is a revolutionary basketball player who deserves every award and message of praise he’s been given and will be given.