Draymond calls himself the GOAT defender

[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

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

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

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.