BREAKING: Draymond Green Names Best Defender in NBA History Without Hesitation
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is not shy about his own prowess on defense, or where he ranks among the NBA's all-time greats.
Green has a stellar resume on defense, earning a place on the NBA All-Defensive Team nine times in his 13 seasons in Golden State and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.
So when a fan asked him to name the best defensive players in NBA history, Green didn't hesitate to put himself at the top of the list.
"What you should understand about me is that I think I'm No. 1 on that list," the Warriors veteran said in an episode of "The Draymond Green Show" on June 3. "Top five to go in order? I'm not a fan of those. But who I would regard as top five? I'd definitely put myself on that list."
Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green
Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Green put himself in good company, naming a group of Hall of Famers alongside his own entry on the list.
"My top five in no particular order is myself, Ben Wallace, Tony Allen, Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon," he said.
Green's list of the best NBA defenders has a bit of recency bias, and the Warriors star said that was intentional. He said all-time greats like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were too difficult to rank as he hadn't seen enough of their game. Green had played against three of the four other players on his list.