Ranking the five greatest defenders in NBA history

Kawhi. Dennis. Scottie. Hakeem. Russell.

Each indomitable defenders, each for their own reasons. It is hard to envision a defensive top-five list without at least three of those names written in some scattered order, so in a long, roundabout way, this brings us back to the original source that spurned this column in the first place:

No, Draymond Green is not the best defender in NBA history.

I just named five defenders I would happily choose over Draymond, and quite frankly, I can think of a handful of others who are plenty deserving in their own right. Nevertheless, this is not to say that Draymond Green is not a great defensive weapon. For the better part of a decade, Draymond has been the most versatile swiss army knife in the National Basketball Association. His offensive game has experienced its ebbs and flows, but his defensive intensity, malleability, and acumen have all propelled Dray into rarified air as it comes to all-time notoriety.

Is there a world in which Draymond Green is a top-10 NBA defender of all-time? Most certainly. But to hop, skip, and jump over the previously mentioned all-timers? Hey bartender, I’ll have eleven of whatever Draymond is having.

To be frank, this feels more like a “Look at me!” statement than anything else. From a guy whose attention whistle has ultimately failed to wet itself since its last dip in the celebratory waters of Draymond’s 2018 NBA Finals victory, it was only a matter of time before Green inserted himself back onto our screens.

Well, Draymond, kudos to you, because here I am, at 2:37am, finishing a 3,000-word column that was initially designed to honor your greatest defensive adversaries but has more-so turned into a man admitting defeat for giving you the attention that you sought. It looks like you can add me to the list of people having sleepless nights over Draymond’s tactical mind games.

Draymond: 1, Craig: 0.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go turn on Tony Allen’s tweet notifications.