Draymond Green and Kenyon Martin have been firing shots at each other lately, and Hall of Famer Paul Pierce has now chimed in on the situation. When asked about this new beef on his No Fouls Given podcast, Pierce made some comments that will not go down well with Green.
“Dray is gonna have the accolades, more All-Stars,” Pierce said. “But if I just put both of these players on the television and I am just scouting… I mean, Kenyon Martin was f***ing fantastic.”
Pierce got to play against both Martin and Green and spoke about what it was like to face the former at his best.
“I had to play against him in his young days and his prime,” Pierce stated. “He was a lob threat. He was a defensive threat. He was intimidating. He ran the court. I mean, he did. And Draymond was good for what he brought to the Golden State Warriors. They were good for what they both brought.
“And I know Draymond is a more decorated because of the Defensive Players of the Year, but listen here,” Pierce added. “K-Mart, if he [had a team like] Draymond, I think they still win four championships.”
Now, Martin was a very good player, but the Golden State Warriors wouldn’t have won four championships if he were on the team instead of Green. You’d imagine the Warriors would have won in 2017 and 2018 because they had Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, but it’s doubtful they’d have gotten across the finish line in 2015 and 2022.
Green was the defensive anchor for the Warriors and arguably their best passer. He was exactly the kind of player you wanted next to the likes of Curry and Klay Thompson on those teams.
You stick Martin in there, and things are no longer the same. He was a better scorer and rebounder than Green, but the offense wouldn’t run quite as smoothly because he wasn’t a great passer. Also, while Martin wasn’t a bad defender by any means, he was simply not as good as Green. You can sit and argue about who the better player was, but Green was undoubtedly the better fit for the Warriors.
Paul Pierce Believes Draymond Green Would Not Be An All-Defensive Player In Any Other Era
Speaking of Green’s defense, Pierce fired off a hot take about it later in the episode.
“I think Draymond is the greatest defender of this new era,” Green said. “… Because he can guard all five positions. I don’t think you can put Draymond defensively in any other area to where he’d be an All-Defensive player. Where he has to switch onto [Shaquille O’Neal], Alonzo [Mourning], Dikembe [Mutombo], [Kevin Garnett].”
Now, if Pierce had said Green, who won DPOY in 2017 and has made nine All-Defensive teams, wouldn’t have been as good defensively in the past, you could maybe agree with that. To claim he wouldn’t even be an All-Defensive player is just flat-out disrespectful.
It will be fascinating to see if Green responds to all this. He is already not in the best of moods these days due to this feud with Martin.
Green went off on Martin for taking unwarranted shots at him after he suggested the Warriors forward was a fake tough guy. The 35-year-old stated that the former NBA player underachieved, as he only made one All-Star team after being selected with the first pick in the 2000 NBA Draft.
Martin responded by claiming he could name 200 players better than Green. He later listed 44 power forwards whom he believed were better, and this has turned into quite a spicy feud.
