{"id":49825,"date":"2025-04-04T09:26:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T09:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825"},"modified":"2025-04-04T09:26:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T09:26:56","slug":"draymond-green-admits-2025-is-his-last-best-chance-to-win-defensive-player-of-the-year-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825","title":{"rendered":"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His &#8216;Last Best Chance&#8217; To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"m-detail-header--dek\">Draymond Green is pushing to win the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year award because he knows it&#8217;s his last shot at being a contender.<\/div>\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--flexbox\">\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--meta\">\n<div class=\"m-description--list\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fadeawayworld.net\/.image\/t_share\/MjEzOTU2NzI4Nzc2MDQyMzMz\/golden-state-warriors-forward-draymond-green-23-in-action-against-the-atlanta-hawks.jpg\" alt=\"Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) in action against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The\u00a0Golden State Warriors\u00a0revolutionized the NBA over the last decade with a game-changing offensive strategy. However, the team has been one of the best defenses over this stretch despite not employing any star center. This is because longtime power forward\u00a0Draymond Green\u00a0has served as the team&#8217;s defensive engine for years and was rewarded as Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Green hasn&#8217;t won the award again, despite having comparable defensive seasons in the years since. With\u00a0Victor Wembanyama not being eligible for the award this season, Draymond frankly told ESPN that he views this season as his last chance to win Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I spoke about it earlier in the year. I spoke about it last year, about Wemby and Chet. They are. The young guys are great, and what they&#8217;re doing is amazing. I do think this is one of the last best chances I have. I think I have put together a good case, and I have six or seven games to continue building that case. Whatever happens, I think I should win it. I wish luck to all the guys in the running because it&#8217;s an incredible thing.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Draymond Green says this may be his &quot;last best chance&quot; to win another Defensive Player of the Year Award \ud83d\ude2e <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JR3W5NnHp0\">pic.twitter.com\/JR3W5NnHp0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNNBA\/status\/1907896056563581127?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Warriors are having a strong defensive season, especially since the team added\u00a0Jimmy Butler III\u00a0in February. The Warriors have had a\u00a0defensive rating of 110.0 since Butler&#8217;s debut, which would be the third-best in the league for this stretch. They have been a strong defensive team all season, but Butler&#8217;s addition has made them undeniable on that end.<\/p>\n<p>None of it is possible without Green being a literal extension of the coaching staff on defense on the court. He might as well be their defensive coordinator with the way he ensures his teammates are in the right positions for defensive possessions while having the motor to cover off multiple opponents and being able to guard 1 through five if he has to contend with switches.<\/p>\n<p>Draymond is averaging 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1,0 blocks per game this season. Unfortunately for Green, there are some really solid contenders he&#8217;ll have to beat for a crack at the award.<\/p>\n<p>The leading contender seems to be\u00a0Evan Mobley\u00a0of the\u00a0Cleveland Cavaliers, who has led the team to being one of the best defenses in the NBA while performing a similar role to Green. Mobley is averaging 9.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 1.6 blocks this season.<\/p>\n<p>While he isn&#8217;t as comfortable matching up with a guard as Green, he&#8217;s far more effective at deterring rim attempts alongside Jarrett Allen. Mobley has led the Cavs to a better defensive rating and record than the Warriors.<\/p>\n<p>Jaren Jackson Jr. of the\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies\u00a0is the last major contender, averaging 5.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game.<\/p>\n<p>Dyson Daniels\u00a0won&#8217;t win the award because the\u00a0Atlanta Hawks\u00a0are finishing the season under .500, but his 3.1 steals per game this season is remarkable and likely guarantees him a spot on All-Defense First Team.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;ll be an interesting award race. If Green puts in marquee performances to end the season, it&#8217;s not wild to see him win the award once again, likely for the final time.<\/p>\n<div id=\"_adr_abp_container_5\" class=\"_adr_abp_container\" data-section=\"c6fb35791736220b25dc6ab574373735\" data-packetid=\"00000001-8ce1b1e4-e5fc-495b-b635-bfe6060fc09c\" data-render-time=\"1743758740342\">\n<div>AD<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":49831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His &#039;Last Best Chance&#039; To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His &#039;Last Best Chance&#039; To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-04T09:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1346\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825\",\"name\":\"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His 'Last Best Chance' To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-04T09:26:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-04T09:26:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1346},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His &#8216;Last Best Chance&#8217; To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798\",\"name\":\"MsNga\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsNga\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His 'Last Best Chance' To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His 'Last Best Chance' To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award - News 365","og_description":"Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-04-04T09:26:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1346,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MsNga","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsNga","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825","name":"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His 'Last Best Chance' To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-04T09:26:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-04T09:26:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/488311990_18343794214157719_1290067581625019475_n.jpg","width":1080,"height":1346},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=49825#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Draymond Green Admits 2025 Is His &#8216;Last Best Chance&#8217; To Win Defensive Player Of The Year Award"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b1c32261ea7c1375bc99d782277ee798","name":"MsNga","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b3e1c10558dfaf162a998dc15535744ef38d91fd35d4fed1d170bd077977aa6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsNga"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=4"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49832,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49825\/revisions\/49832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}