It wouldn’t be the NBA without some off-the-court drama. Draymond Green and Kevin Durant have provided that for years, at times taking on each other. The former Warriors teammates are at it again in a back-and-forth about the age-old question: Which is more important, offense or defense?
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On the latest season of Netflix’s Starting 5, Durant claimed that it’s the offense that wins championships. But Draymond wasn’t having any of it. However, the 2016-17 DPOY took it to another level this week by not-so-subtly intimating that the only reason Durant has two championships is because he joined the Warriors.
KD shot back on X without wasting much time. And now here we are in another squabble after what seemed to be some level of truce when KD appeared on Draymond’s podcast earlier this year.
On the No Fouls Given podcast, Danny Green and Paul Pierce weighed in on the debate. Green sided with Draymond. “I’m a defensive player,” he said, before explaining the importance of having a top defense. “There are nights where your offense is not gonna be rolling.”
Pierce, however, had a balanced take. “With the way the game is now, where it’s even harder to play defense, I could see what KD is kinda saying, but I think to win it all, you gotta be equal, and there’s gotta be a balance between the two. I think you have to have a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense to win it,” he said.
The numbers back Pierce’s take. Teams that are too heavily weighted on one side haven’t found the ultimate success. Going back to 2005, every NBA champ has finished in the top 11 in both offensive rating and defensive rating, with just two exceptions.
The 2022-23 Nuggets were 5th in offensive rating and 15th in defensive rating, while the 2021-22 Warriors were 16th in offensive rating and 2nd in defensive rating.
Of Golden State’s other three championship teams, the 2014-15 squad was 2nd in offense and 1st in defense. Once KD got to town, that flipped. The 2016-17 Warriors were 1st in offense and 2nd in defense. A year later, they were 3rd in offense and 11th in defense.
Draymond is one of the best defenders of the last two decades. And KD is one of the greatest pure scorers who has ever lived. So it’s easy to see where they’re both coming from. Pierce really nails it, though, because you can’t win with just one and not the other.
It is harder to stop modern offenses than ever before. That makes great defense all the more important. You still have to be elite offensively, though, to keep up.
Ever since Durant went to Golden State and won back-to-back titles, there’s been a war over who deserves the most credit for the Warriors’ success. Draymond and KD keep fanning the flames, highlighting their insecurities in the process.
Meanwhile, Steph Curry, who unquestionably has been the franchise’s most important player all this time, stays above the fray. Of course, Steph knows he has nothing to worry about in terms of his role in the team’s success and legacy.
KD and Draymond may continue to bicker back and forth, but the reality is you can’t win in this league without elite offense and defense. In a just world, this will ultimately play out with Durant’s Rockets facing Draymond’s Warriors in the playoffs. But we’ll have to wait and see if that comes to pass.
