Warriors forward Draymond Green uses Rudy Gobert and his defensive meltdown as a chance to reiterate himself as the ‘true’ DPOY
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The NBA announced the winner of the coveted DPOY award around 10 days ago. The title fell between three top contenders. Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, and Rudy Gobert. Rudy Gobert emerged victorious and bagged his third DPOY honors. Gobert joined elite company and became only the fourth player to win 3 or more DPOY awards.
However, it did not sit right with a lot of people. While initially, people were plugging for Ben Simmons to win the title, their preferences changed after watching him in the playoffs. Draymond Green was clearly the best candidate among the three, and he did not shy away from claiming the same. Even before the title was given to Rudy, Green explained what made him stand ahead of his competition.
Draymond Green doubles down on his claim as the DPOY
Draymond Green has been a player who never shies away from speaking his mind. This quality of his often lands him in delicate situations, but that’s just how Green is.
After the Jazz had a historical meltdown in Game 6 against the Clippers, everyone started pointing out how Rudy Gobert lacked on the defensive end. The Clippers went at Rudy Gobert and were quite successful as well. The Clippers went 15/19 from the field in the second half, when Rudy Gobert was the primary defender.
Rudy Gobert was the closest/primary defender on 19 Clipper shot attempts in the 2nd half of Game 6.
The Clippers made 15 of those shots (79%). pic.twitter.com/Rh13znzVL3
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 19, 2021
A fan even cited the video where Green talked about how he was the best option in the DPOY candidates this year.
one of the most accurate basketball analysts I’ve ever seen… and an active player too. man of many talents @Money23Green https://t.co/v5WI3bqKKy
— Ava (@avieluu_) June 20, 2021
Green quoted the same, and replied in a very nonchalant way while making his point very clear.
🗣🗣🗣🗣 I said what I said https://t.co/4p82mLxDzS
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) June 20, 2021
The NBA should do a better job at selecting the winners for such prestigious honors. You cannot expect the league’s top defender to show up and give us such a performance. Meanwhile, Green would be somewhere sitting and grinning about the same.