Draymond Green Talks Guarding Rockets' Kevin Durant: 'That Challenge is Always Fun to me'

Houston Rockets superstar forward Kevin Durant is one of the game's greatest scorers ever. In fact, he's on the cusp of surpassing Michael Jordan.

He's certain to pass him this season, based on Durant's 26.1 point nightly average this season. Durant would thrive in any era, due to his 7-foot frame and ability to tower over essentially any defender.

Durant's former teammate, Draymond Green, is regarded as one of the game's greatest defenders of all-time. He's certainly one of the better defenders of his generation.

Yet and still, he's had challenges defending Durant. Green took to the Draymond Green Show, his signature podcast, to sing Durant's praises.

"Any time you get the opportunity to match up with a guy who gave you 54 points as a rookie, you're always going to be up for that matchup," Green said. "He's one of the greatest scorers I have ever played against and by far the toughest guy I have ever had to guard in this league. So when I get that opportunity, it tests my skills. That challenge is always fun to me.

"Like, he's 7-feet. Fast, quick as hell. Does everything with precision. And he's obviously not taking bad shots. So, I probably enjoy guarding K more than anybody. When you're guarding him, you have to be at your best."

Durant has proven capable of thriving on any team, in any system due to his ability to score in bunches on a limited number of touches. Well, a reduced number of touches.

This season, Durant averages 17.9 field goal attempts per contest, which is Durant's fewest total in five seasons. Yet he still averages 26.1 points, which ranks 10th in the league. Durant also ranks eighth in total points. With no point guard to get him the ball.

In fact, Durant gets iced out oftentimes on possessions entirely. Teams double team him and make it their mission to take him out of the game and/or deny him entry.

Yet he's still had 24 games of 30+ points this season and 34 games of 25+ points. One of the teams that Durant and the Rockets recently faced, Green and the Golden State Warriors, know a good bit about Durant.

The Rockets played the Warriors just four games ago and Durant was limited to 23 points on 16 shots, which is an underwhelming performance by his standards, especially considering his 41 minutes played.

The Rockets will certainly need Durant to get back on track, as they suffered their biggest loss of the season to Denver on Wednesday night.