Former Cleveland Cavaliers center discussed how Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was impactful to his team, which won multiple championships, and his contribution in this era.
“Draymond is one of the greatest defensive players in his era,” Haywood said during the UnitedWeCast podcast with Ric Bucher.
The timeline of Draymond’s era has been emphasized as they believe that he might be different in the 90s basketball.
“He couldn’t have guarded guys in the 90’s like David Robinson and Patrick. Who cares? He didn’t play in the 90s. I don’t care if he couldn’t have guarded Hakeem Olajuwon. It doesn’t matter,” Haywood added.
Despite saying that the four-time champion could not defend during the 90s, Haywood noted that he had done his job during his era when it comes to guarding all positions, especially big men.
“He had to guard LaMarcus Aldridge, and he did well. He had to guard Kevin Love, and he did well.
Aside from guarding matchups, the system of the Warriors, the small ball rotation, under Steve Kerr, went smoothly through the years because of Draymond, who can also switch everything, even guard positions offensively and defensively.
“The Golden State Warriors couldn’t have been the Golden State Warriors without his ability to switch on point guards and hold his own and guard guys like Kevin Love on the low block and not be taken advantage of. That switching everything small ball era was ushered in because of Draymond Green,” the former NBA center said.
Although the 6-foot-7 wing’s offense is not reliable, his elite defense became an integral part of their four championships, leading the Warriors defensively top 10 in the league.
“Draymond Green’s defense, while his offense isn’t a thing of beauty, his defense was one of the reasons why every time they won a championship, they were a top-five or top 10 defensive ball club. People forget that because Golden State shot the ball so well, but their
number one asset was probably their defense. And he was a major part of that,” he added.
Green is one of only two players in NBA history to rank in the top 20 all-time in playoff blocks, steals, and assists.
The 35-year-old earned his Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017, while also obtaining a championship.
