Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was candid about what Victor Wembanyama has had to explain to media.
The MVP race has a few contenders, one of them being San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, who recently made his case for the league’s Most Valuable Player award on Monday night. His comments caught the ear of Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, known for his candidness across the league, to put it mildly. Green has also been known for his defensive prowess being such a large component of his game in his years with the Warriors. For both of those reasons, he had a lot to say about Wembanyama’s self-stated case, from his self-promotion to his need to explain the value of defense.
"Wemby said, 'Defense is 50% of the game,' and it was like, oh, no one realized that?" Green said. "No one realized that 50% of the game we play is on that end of the floor?"
It’s something that doesn’t become as prominent until the NBA playoffs. Defense is largely undervalued through the regular season, until it becomes critical in the postseason and applauded. But Green was disturbed by the fact that Wemby had to explain that component at all, and “hated that he had to do that for it to be said.” Now, it’s not that Green is behind Wembanyama as his first choice for MVP, but his comments were more focused on how they were an “indictment on the game of basketball,” and how it took Wemby defending the importance of defense for everyone to suddenly value it in MVP talks.
Here is the full story from Warriors Roundtable writer Jack Haslett on Green’s strong feelings towards Wembanyama’s comments.
Now, Wembanyama still has to hit the 65-game threshold to be eligible for awards. Should he, he’s considered the leading favorite for Defensive Player of the Year. MVP isn’t so sure with reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Maybe the defense will make a difference to voters, but Green thinks the league has a lot further to go in that valuation.