Draymond Green has been one of the best defenders in the NBA over the last decade or so, and he has helped establish the Golden State Warriors as the league’s most recent dynasty by being their defensive anchor. Green has been voted into the NBA All-Defensive Teams on numerous occasions in that time, and his crowning moment was being named Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.
Green has done a number on many stars across the league in the process, but no matter how great you are, there always seems to be that one lesser-known player who appears to have your number, and for Green, that is Taj Gibson. Draymond was answering fan questions on the “Draymond Green Show” when he admitted that Gibson was too much for him to handle.
(starts at 17:59 mark):
“Non-Superstar that I have trouble guarding my whole career is Taj Gibson. I feel like everyone in their career has one guy that is a damn good basketball player but… in your mind you may not think like oh man he’s a superstar, and I think for me that person has always been Taj Gibson. I played Taj Gibson in college, I was a freshman and it was his last year of school… our starting center Goran Suton got in foul trouble and so I came off the bench and I had to guard Taj.”
“I went in chubby, pudgy freshman and I was locking it up… and I kind of made it a little tough on Taj, I was fronting him, I was doing the whole thing and mixing the coverages up and everything and I think Taj remembered that because every chance he got to play against me after that he would destroy me. I remember my second year and I’m never asking for no switch, I ain’t asking for no double team, you’re just going to have to destroy me, that’s just what it’s going to be (but) I had to switch with Jermaine O’Neal, I couldn’t stop Taj and I knew it. I’m like this dude got my number, I can’t quite stop him.”
It is a bit crazy that Gibson, of all people, has given Draymond so much trouble over the years, and maybe it has something to do with that game in college. He has been a solid player over the years and is still hanging around in the league as he signed with the Wizards this offseason.
During this segment, Draymond made another surprising statement as he said that Carmelo Anthony was a better scorer than Kevin Durant during their primes.
