Draymond calls himself the GOAT defender

[mehyaM24]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg9iieAVdak

agree or disagree?

[Dr Hawk]

At the very least, Hakeem, Duncan, Robinson, Garnett, Rodman and Wallace were better.

[Xiao Yao You]

the only thing that would even have him in the top guys ever would be defensive +/- where he's 4th all time. Been 4 years since he was DPOY, first team all D or led the league in the previous stat listed. A lot of guys have better resumes

[HoopsNY]

He's not even the best defensive player of his era, let alone the entire history of the NBA. These NBA players nowadays have become such divas that they think they're more special than they actually are.

[Airupthere]

Huge delusion leaking off of gsw success. He would not even be discussed if he played in a different team.

[beasted]

At the very least, Hakeem, Duncan, Robinson, Garnett, Rodman and Wallace were better.

Russell

[bizil]

HELL NO!!! Rodman and KG standout to me because of their positional versatility AND elite athletic ability as a package. Draymond has positionless defensive qualities as well. BUT not on the level of Rodman and KG. The fact KG did that at 7'0 tall in my book makes him the most UNIQUE of the great defenders. Because u just don't see guys capable of that besides a Giannis type. Or AD who isn't quite 7'0.

And Rodman (who is closer to Dray's size than KG) is much more athletic, stronger, and has one of the best motors of all time. Hell you can look at Rodman's defense and hustle and TELL it's on another level than Draymond. Dray is a great defender no doubt. BUT he needs to pump his brakes when he says he's the GOAT defender. U have guys who can defend JUST AS MANY positions as effectively or even more. Who are much more athletic and TOUGHER to score on!

[highwhey]

Ggolden state got really lucky from the cavs injuries and having Kd lol, these guys really let that success get to their head :roll:

[hiphopanonymous]

At the very least, Hakeem, Duncan, Robinson, Garnett, Rodman and Wallace were better.

Bill Russell

[pandiani17]

Ggolden state got really lucky from the cavs injuries and having Kd lol, these guys really let that success get to their head :roll:

Yeah, they think they all have a position in the history books. They are quite delusional lol

[Axe]

The donkey is truly proud he can defend better than his first scoring option. No surpise about that.

[Manny98]

He's not even the best defensive player of his era, let alone the entire history of the NBA. These NBA players nowadays have become such divas that they think they're more special than they actually are.
Who's better than him in this era?

[BigShotBob]

Who's better than him in this era?

Gobert, Kawhi, AD and now you could argue Ben Simmons.

[Manny98]

Gobert, Kawhi, AD and now you could argue Ben Simmons.
Kawhi hasn't been a top tier defender since 2017

Gobert and AD just :roll:

Simmons is a beast but 2015-2018 Draymond was one of the most versatile defenders I have ever seen, his overall impact on that end was insane those years.

[Xiao Yao You]

Kawhi hasn't been a top tier defender since 2017

Gobert and AD just :roll:

Simmons is a beast but 2015-2018 Draymond was one of the most versatile defenders I have ever seen, his overall impact on that end was insane those years.

it's 2021 Manny incase you were wondering

[Manny98]

it's 2021 Manny incase you were wondering
Yes and Draymond at his peak was the best defender of this era

[BigShotBob]

Kawhi hasn't been a top tier defender since 2017

Gobert and AD just :roll:

Simmons is a beast but 2015-2018 Draymond was one of the most versatile defenders I have ever seen, his overall impact on that end was insane those years.

Compare Peak Draymond to

Peak 2x DPOY Kawhi

Current Prime/Peak Gobert

Peak AD shutting down the paint last year

and current Prime/Peak Ben Simmons.

Draymond regressed mightily last year, and he regressed in 2019. His three year run was impressive (though personally I think he fell off in 2017-2018).

His 3 year run was very impressive but that doesn't make him the best of his era.

[Xiao Yao You]

Yes and Draymond at his peak was the best defender of this era

2017 isn't this era

[Manny98]

Goberts defensive impact tends to drop off a lot come playoff time that's why I lean towards Draymond being better

[RRR3]

Goberts defensive impact tends to drop off a lot come playoff time that's why I lean towards Draymond being better
Imagine Toody against Bron in the finals. BBQ chicken.

[Xiao Yao You]

Goberts defensive impact tends to drop off a lot come playoff time that's why I lean towards Draymond being better

Gobert doesn't have Curry, Thompson and Durant :lol

[Manny98]

Imagine Toody against Bron in the finals. BBQ chicken.
See 2018 where CP3 completely picked him apart and exploited his weakness.

Draymond has no real weakness defensively because he's so versatile and can defend anyone

[RRR3]

See 2018 where CP3 completely picked him apart and exploited his weakness.

Draymond has no real weakness defensively because he's so versatile and can defend anyone
Yeah I can see Bron dropping 40 PPG on Toody’s clumsy ass.

[Xiao Yao You]

See 2018 where CP3 completely picked him apart and exploited his weakness.

Draymond has no real weakness defensively because he's so versatile and can defend anyone

It's not 2017 anymore :lol

[Xiao Yao You]

Yeah I can see Bron dropping 40 PPG on Toody’s clumsy ass.

I can see Lebron scoring 40 on anyone. Your point? :facepalm

[Manny98]

It's not 2017 anymore :lol
Ok?

Rudy struggles against small ball and gets exploited on switches in the pick and roll
Draymond doesn't.

In the playoffs versatility is highly valued hence why Rudy's defensive value goes down in the playoffs.

He has a negative on/off in 3/4 postseason runs and had a negative DBPM against Denver in the playoffs

[RRR3]

I can see Lebron scoring 40 on anyone. Your point? :facepalm
I thought Toody could shut down perimeter stars.

[Xiao Yao You]

I thought Toody could shut down perimeter stars.

Doubt anyone said that. You don't shut anyone down in today's game. He's the best though

[HBK_Kliq_2]

If you value regular seasons wins then yes he's up there because he anchored a 73 win team. I think Kawhi has had two playoff runs that were better defensively (2014,2019), so it depends what you value I guess.

Draymond\Kawhi\Iggy are the best non center defenders of this generation (if you don't consider Draymond a center). Curry's no defense midget ass was lucky to have two of them on his team.

[Micku]

It's cool he thinks that. I feel like if you made that far in the league, you gott'a have that belief and attitude. Gott'a have your confidence up. A lot of players probably have something similar in their mind. LeBron thought he was the best defender in 2013. James Harden thinks he's the best in the game. Etc, etc.

He definitely anchor the Warriors defense for sure at their peak. One of the best versatile defenders and vocal leaders on the defensive side for sure.

In terms of all time tho? At least what I seen and read, not for me. He ain't better than Hakeem, David Robinson and Ben Wallace. I haven't seen enough Bill Russell and Wilt to say. Is he better than Bobby Jones? KG and Rodman were great too it comes to versatility, but it's also hard to compare defenses across eras. He's definitely one of the best of his eras for sure. He's probably one of the most valued for his team, especially at his peak. But the best? It depends on what we classify as an era. Cuz in decade of 10-19, you still had prime Howard, KG and Tim Duncan. Although Duncan and KG prime was more in the 00s, Duncan was underrated in the early 10s in the time he played.

But he is definitely one of the best of all time or rather one of the best of the era. I dunno about the best ever.

[Reggie43]

There are a ton of players who are better across eras. A guy like Scottie Pippen who never won Dpoy is clearly the better and much smarter defender while being bigger and much more athletic at his peak. Dude never had the dpoy hardware because of the heavy competition for the award and the line of thinking of the time was that bigmen who anchored the paint will always be more impactful on defense. Put Draymond in that scenario and he wont be brave enough to speak like this because they are players ready to ragdoll him at that big forward and center position.

[k0kakw0rld]

He is out of his damn mind.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Not even top 30:lol:lol

Russell
Wilt
Thurmond
Hondo
KAJ
Walton
Unseld
Bobby
DeBusschere
Eaton
Moncrief
Hakeem
Rodman
Robinson
Ewing
Mourning
Mutombo
MJ
Pippen
Payton
KG
Duncan
Big Ben
Artest
AK47
Kobe
Dwight
Tony
Marc
Kawhi
Simmons

Draymond is on the level of like Kidd, CP3 or Frazier. Still great but nah. Great communicator, versatile but for a big he's too small and he could never really guard smaller players. Wings routinely torched him too he had good post defense against bigs with no post skills but he's BBQ chicken against nikkas like Jokic, Vucevic, Sabonis, Embiid etc. Iggy was the same size as him and arguably as impactful on defense in his prime.

For bigs Draymond is more Kevin McHale level who was a great defender in his own right.

[Axe]

Not even top 30:lol:lol

Russell
Wilt
Thurmond
Hondo
KAJ
Walton
Unseld
Bobby
DeBusschere
Eaton
Moncrief
Hakeem
Rodman
Robinson
Ewing
Mourning
Mutombo
MJ
Pippen
Payton
KG
Duncan
Big Ben
Artest
AK47
Kobe
Dwight
Tony
Marc
Kawhi
Simmons

Draymond is on the level of like Kidd, CP3 or Frazier. Still great but nah. Great communicator, versatile but for a big he's too small and he could never really guard smaller players. Wings routinely torched him too he had good post defense against bigs with no post skills but he's BBQ chicken against nikkas like Jokic, Vucevic, Sabonis, Embiid etc. Iggy was the same size as him and arguably as impactful on defense in his prime.

For bigs Draymond is more Kevin McHale level who was a great defender in his own right.
He's only bragging because he knows he does a better job at defending opponents than his teammate steph curry

[Walk on Water]

Why don't you guys accept it? Do you think it's that easy to be that successful? Remember he shut down 7 ft 1 Gasol and Zach Randolph? No doubt, those guys were getting the better of him at the beginning of the series, but after the 3rd game, Green locked them down and made them look like they didn't belong on the court. He's smaller than them and still embarrassed them. He might have even been able to give Shaq fits.

[Sulico]

I disagree, but have no problem with him thinking that.

He is one of the best for sure.

[paksat]

calling yourself the best defender in THIS era, LUL

[HoopsNY]

Who's better than him in this era?

AD and Kawhi automatically come to mind.

[HoopsNY]

Kawhi hasn't been a top tier defender since 2017

Gobert and AD just :roll:

Simmons is a beast but 2015-2018 Draymond was one of the most versatile defenders I have ever seen, his overall impact on that end was insane those years.

Kawhi missed the 2018 season due to injury. He was All-Defensive 2nd team in 2019 and 2020. At no point of Draymond's career has he been anywhere near the defensive stopper that Kawhi was.

Even in last year's playoffs; while Kawhi choked offensively, he had an excellent playoffs defensively for anyone who actually watched him play.

You're acting as if Kawhi somehow got dropped into the league in 2018, which he didn't play, making 2019 his first full season. Kawhi has been in the league since 2011. He's been an elite defender for the majority of that time, and certainly a better defensive player than Draymond.

AD most definitely qualifies as being a better defensive player than Draymond in this era. I'm not sure why this comes as a surprise to you.

Being a "versatile" defender doesn't make you a better defender. Furthermore, AD can guard the perimeter. Did you not watch him play defense on Jimmy Butler during the NBA finals?

[hiphopanonymous]

Scottie Pippen was a better defensive player than Draymond at Draymonds absolute best. And Scottie also played on the other end. There are so many better defensive players than Draymond.

Bill Russell is the GOAT defensive player - 8 peat, plus 3 more plus a gold medal and 2 NCAA titles all due to his dominating defensive rebounding and rim protection.