While the Golden State Warriors attempt another championship run, which will first require success in the play-in tournament, Draymond Green is looking ahead to the end of the regular season.
Specifically, he’s looking at the end-of-year awards races and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
The first overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, Wembanyama has restored the feeling of a San Antonio Spurs franchise that’s gone under-.500 in five consecutive seasons.
As a France-born native, he’s got fans all over the world. And now, he’s got Defensive Player of the Year support from a future Hall of Famer and the award’s 2016-2017 recipient.
On the April 3 episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” Green says Wembanyama is the DPOY.
“Wemby should be the Defensive Player of the Year because he is that amazing defensively,” Green said. “The way he impacts the game on the defensive end — whether it’s off the ball, on the ball — it’s a problem. When you start driving to the hole, and like, guys may have a layup, maybe not, and they just turn out and go the other way, that’s a problem.”
This development is two-fold. Not only is this Wembanayama’s biggest endorsement for the award thus far, but Green is also on record saying the exact opposite previously.
Green Has Switched Sides
Despite playing for an 18-58 Spurs team, Wembanyama is one of the best defenders in the NBA. But should he win the Defensive Player of the Year on a team that’s ranked 22nd in the NBA? Green thinks so.
But that’s not always been the case. On a March 6 episode of his podcast, he argued that team success should supersede individual performance in award voting.
“Wemby is 12th in the league in steals and first in blocks, and those are great numbers, and as he continues in his career, and that team gets better,…I personally don’t think that it’s this year.” Green said. “Even if Rudy Gobert wasn’t having the season that he’s having and their team having the season that they’re having, I still don’t think you can give that award to somebody who’s on the 24th best defense in the league.”
Wembanyama has dropped to 19th in the league in steals with 86, and has a comfortable lead in blocks, to say the least.
He’s up to 235 on the season, with the next closest player being Chet Holmgren, at 178.
According to Stathead, those numbers haven’t been recorded since Anthony Davis did it with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2014-2015.
One recent experience may explain Green’s change of heart. He played against Wembanyama following the March 6 recording. Golden State won the March 11 meeting handily, but the Spurs rookie flexed his star power.
He finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal in 31 minutes.
At the end of the day, Green’s support for Wembanyama is louder than his original critique. That’s what will be remembered when it’s time to cast ballots.
Warriors Rolling Into Season’s End
No one counts out the Warriors once the NBA Playoffs come around.
But these last few seasons, the goalposts have shifted, with Golden State doing well to make the Play-In Tournament.
With seven games to go, the Warriors have a three-game lead for the 10th seed in the Western Conference. They have won five straight going into their April 4 matchup against the 11th seed Houston Rockets.
Barring a catastrophic collapse, the Warriors are headed to the Play-In Tournament for the second straight year. LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are their likely opponent.
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