As of April 4, the Spurs have an 18-58 record and the 22nd-ranked defense in the league. Ordinarily, it would be rather ludicrous to reward a player from such a squad as the Defensive Player of the Year. However, Victor Wembanyama could end up being the anomaly.
Every advanced metric suggests that the Spurs are an elite defensive team when Wemby is on the floor and a hapless one when he’s off. The stats notwithstanding, every marquee name in the league who has shared the court with the Spurs phenom has raved about his defensive impact.
You can now add Draymond Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year himself, to the growing list. On Wednesday’s “Draymond Green Show,” the Warriors star explained why Wemby had done enough to win the award and shouldn’t be penalized for the struggles of his teammates.
“Wemby is definitely the Defensive Player of the Year,” Green declared. “The way he impacts the game on the defensive end, whether it’s off the ball or on the ball — it’s a problem. When you drive into the hoop, and if guys may or may not have a layup, they see Wemby and just go the other way. That’s a blocked shot in a sense. Obviously, team record matters. But it’s not quite Wemby’s fault…I don’t know what lab he was created in, but I need to go create me a son in that lab because dude is unbelievable.”
