Lakers: Draymond Green Thinks He Could Get a Stop On Shaq
Love him or hate him, Draymond Green is one of the best defensive players in the league. The forward has established himself as one of the premier defenders in the NBA. He won the 2016-2017 defensive player of the year award and has been named to six NBA All-Defensive teams in his ten seasons in the league.
On a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, the forward explained why getting chance to guard Lakers great Shaquille O'Neal would be his dream defensive matchup. Green thinks he could stop Shaq, at least once that is.
"Shaq, like I said, he was my favorite player growing up. If I had the opportunity to guard him, that's everything for me. If I had the opportunity to play with Shaq, that's everything for me. Every says, 'Oh man, if you played in the league back then, you wouldn't be able to guard Shaq. You wouldn't be able to guard him.' Shut up. I can guard Shaq. Bring on the big fella."
Green also went into depth about how the Lakers Hall-of-Famer was his childhood idol.
"I grew up a Shaq fan. I had Orlando Magic night light, the zip up ones. So if I could play basketball with Shaq, and then if I could also guard Shaq so I can shut everyone up with the whole, 'You can't guard Shaq'. [Of] course I can't guard Shaq, but I can get a stop. I ain't saying I'm going to stop him relatively, but I think at some point, I'm going to get a stop. But I would love that challenge though."
Whether or not Draymond Green could get at least one defensive stop on Shaq is a fascinating debate. It's hard to imagine the 6'6" Green slowing peak Shaq down, but like any bar room sports debate, we'll never know the answer.
