Warriors' Draymond Green plans his return to defensive glory

You'll definitely miss Draymond Green moments like this – and specific Draymond Green triumphs – when he's gone.

Even if you're not a Draymond fan. Even if over the years you have grown tired of him or become more than tired of him. Although nothing Draymond does compares to watching Stephen Curry float through the greatest career of any Warrior. Even if you're not a Warriors fan and can't imagine being one, as long as No. 23 barks, jokes, beats his chest and otherwise tunes out almost all other activity on the field.

You'll miss Draymond whenever he retires and barks and chatters in his next career – because there's nothing better than watching him play 30 grueling minutes of near-perfect defense like he did on Wednesday against the giant Zion Williamson did the Warriors' 104-89 victory over the Pelicans at Chase Center. There's nothing better than listening to Draymond and his teammates break down the wrestling/karate/ballet performances afterwards. There will simply never be another Draymond, with all the volatile ups and downs and fascinating ones in between.

Once Curry retires, the Warriors will no longer be as relevant as a championship threat or a global product… nor will they be as easy to value. Point. This is a given. But more practically, once Draymond retires or leaves, the Warriors simply won't be as reckless. They won't be that difficult to play. They won't have as many nights as Wednesday (with Curry and Andrew Wiggins both out), when Draymond was at times a wall against Williamson's bull rushes, at times a middle linebacker and at times a dancer, at times all in a single possession.

“There's a guy who has won four championships,” said Buddy Hield, a veteran who played against the Warriors and Draymond many times before joining the team this season. “You must follow his example; There is no choice but to follow his example. That's the culture here. … He sets the tone at a high level and the boys have to keep up. When he’s angry, you can tell.”

Now, of course, Draymond's legacy is not an easy one, largely due to his own emotional excesses, which he is the first to acknowledge. He's no longer considered one of the league's best defensive players – or biggest winners – because at 34 years old, it's been a while since he had a great individual season. And especially because last season he was suspended twice for a total of 21 games for unsportsmanlike conduct on the pitch. He only played in 55 games total last season and the Warriors weren't a great team whether he was there or not.

But on Wednesday night, Draymond said he was motivated to spend the offseason talking about how Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren are developing into the best defensive players in the league. (Oddly, but not surprisingly, Draymond didn't mention his nemesis Rudy Gobert, who won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award last season.)

Yes, it's all connected. His ferocity inspires his teammates, including his halftime speeches and his yelling on the sidelines. It can also drag everything down if it goes too far, which has happened a lot in recent years. But it's all motivation for the 2017 DPOY. Draymond hasn't made the NBA First Team All-Defense since 2021. Draymond is very aware of this. And a night after Williamson scored 31 points against Draymond and the Warriors (albeit in a win), the Warriors' defensive leader wanted people to see him pushing Williamson to a 5-of-20 shooting night.

“I spent the whole summer watching everyone talk about Chet and Wemby and what they were doing defensively,” Draymond said. “Don’t forget Dray. I would also like to take part in this conversation. And I think I've earned the right to at least be part of the conversation.

“So every game I come out here defensively motivated to get back into First Team All-Defense. I think I had a really good year defensively last year, I just didn't play enough games. So that’s a goal of mine: to get back on this team and get back into the Defensive Player of the Year category.”

This is all extremely important for the Warriors, who were known for the Curry-Klay Thompson “Splash Brothers” dynamic, then added Kevin Durant for three seasons and two titles, but always based their championship runs on defense. The defense has struggled recently – not coincidentally, shortly after former defensive coordinator Mike Brown left the Kings to take the top job – all the way up until last season, when they finished 15th in the league with a rating of 114.5. The last time the Warriors finished in the top tier defensively was when they were No. 2 in 2021-22 – and won the title.

The Warriors haven't even come close to facing a top offensive team this season, but they are 4-1 and the defense appears to be very weak. The path to the rim is no longer as wide open as it was last season. The pressure on the ball is obvious. Draymond is everywhere. They have several effective defensive options at almost every position. And they currently have the No. 2 defense in the league with a rating of 98.4 (Oklahoma City is No. 1 at 91.3), while no one else is below 100.

One aspect of this is probably mostly statistical noise: The Warriors are giving up just 6.2 fast break points per game, the lowest in the league and nearly nine fewer points than they gave up in transition last season. That's sure to increase as they face better teams like OKC and Boston on their upcoming road trip.

But the structure just feels stronger with longtime NBA veteran and former Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse as the new DC and with general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. assembling a roster full of quality defensive players.

“Yeah, I think we’re focused on our defense no matter who’s out there,” Brandin Podziemski said. “Attack will always come when you have Steph Curry. Our identity is based on defense, rebounding and getting out and running in transition. I think that’s something we can hold on to no matter who’s out there and who’s hurt.”

There has been continued praise for Stackhouse's early impact this season, especially from Draymond, who is of course the most important in all things defensively. According to Trayce Jackson-Davis, Stackhouse emphasized applying pressure on the ball, giving defenders the green light to attack with a double team or cover when they feel the moment is right. The result so far: The Warriors are third in the league with an average of 11.6 steals per game. Last season they averaged 7 per game.

Plus, as Draymond was pleased to note, Stackhouse sends out grades for each player's defensive performance every game, which represents “a level of accountability we haven't had in the last few years” — or, Draymond didn't need to say, exactly after Brown went to the Kings.

“I feel like that becomes our identity: making stops and going out and running,” Draymond said. “I think we’re going to be a really good defensive team.”

They did this in their last two games without Wiggins, probably their best fullback. They got it done against the Pelicans in this back-to-back set when the Warriors really needed some defensive focus due to Curry's exit. Both players should be back very soon and the Warriors will need them to get through this very difficult five-game road trip that begins Saturday in Houston. Remarkably, this is exactly the point on the schedule when last season began to blow up the Warriors, who started 5-1, lost a pair of road games and then lost five in a row at Chase Center – including the scuffle , which led to Draymond's headlock on Gobert and a five-game suspension – and he never seemed to fully recover.

Are things more stable now? With this team you never really know. But you know there's curry, which is always special. They know that Draymond is capable of very special things – and crazy things too. And you know it won't last forever, just as the Warriors' journey with Klay ended last offseason (when Klay came to town with the Mavericks on November 12th).