Warriors’ Draymond Green Changes Mind, Says Victor Wembanyama Should Win NBA DPOY

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVApril 4, 2024

Photos by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Draymond Green is backtracking.

The Golden State Warriors forward said last month that he didn’t believe that San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom should be the Defensive Player of the Year. On Wednesday, he changed his mind:

The Volume @TheVolumeSports”I lied… Wemby should be the Defensive Player of the Year” – @Money23Green 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/7uPsIoMKIv

Green’s main argument last year was that, despite Wembanyama’s impressive numbers, he still didn’t believe the award should go to “somebody who’s on the 24th-best defense in the league.”

Perhaps Green was moved by Wemby’s 15 rebounds and nine blocks against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday evening. The imminent Rookie of the Year blocked two-time MVP Nikola Jokić on multiple occasions, to the point that even Jokić just sort of threw his arms up in disbelief:

Matt Brooks @MattBrooksNBANikola Jokić was asked if he said anything to Victor Wembanyama after dunking on him.

He said he told Wemby: “If you block one more shot, I’m gonna…”

“But he blocked like four after that, so I didn’t do anything about it.” pic.twitter.com/dVqQ3W4lww

Bleacher Report @BleacherReportThis Wemby and Jokić sequence 😱😂 pic.twitter.com/aTL3xsEzO7

For the season, Wemby is averaging an incredible 3.5 blocks per game. That not only leads the NBA this season, it would have led the NBA in every season going all the way back to the 2015-16 campaign, when Hassan Whiteside swatted 3.7 shots per game.

So yes, what he’s doing this season is special, to the point that even Green is changing his tune.