Draymond Green Picks Former Teammate as Toughest NBA Player to Guard

Draymond Green is one of the best NBA defenders of all time. When players go up against Golden State's enforcer, they know it'll be a tough bucket to get.

Green himself is not shy of letting everyone know he's a great defender, either. Green has won only one NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, but has been a finalist several times. The forward is also a 9-time member of the all-defense team -- five of those being on the NBA All-Defensive First team.

Draymond Green:

— 9.0 PPG | 6.9 RPG | 5.6 APG
— 4x NBA Champ
— 4x All-Star
— 2x All-NBA
— 9x All-Defense
— DPOY

The only player to average 5/5/5/1/1 over the last 50 years. pic.twitter.com/oBmvgidAlT
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 27, 2025

Draymond's Pick on Toughest Player He Had To Guard

Recently, Green went on popular streamer Kai Cenat's livestream, where he was asked about who was toughest to guard.

Cenat asked, "Who's the hardest player to guard?" To which Green responded with, "Right now or in my career?"

Cenat asked for both, and Green's answers were unsurprising due to the amount of talent he's been around. "The toughest person I had to guard in my career is KD," said Green. None other than Kevin Durant, who was with the Warriors from 2016 through 2019, was the defender's choice.

May 8, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) dribbles the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half during game two of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

"KD in OKC... After that, I figured him out. Slim can’t score on me no more. He going to score on everybody, but I got better and learned more about his game," Green continued.

Green's Head-to-Head Matchups With Durant

Draymond Green and Kevin Durant have played a grand total of 26 games against each other throughout their careers. In that span, Green has a 14-12 winning record against the former NBA MVP.

At the same time, Durant has averaged 28.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on 49/44/86 shooting from the field. It's safe to say that while Green has a winning record against Durant, he has not really been able to stop him in the grand scheme.

Green will definitely go down as one of the best to ever do it defensively, and with a resume to back him up, including four NBA championships. Green will have another crack at the glory this season when he and his Warriors compete for a playoff spot.

To get to the mountain top, though, the Warriors' superstar will have to get through all the players he just mentioned. It'll be interesting to see if he, Steph Curry, and Jimmy Butler have what it takes to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy next June.

Draymond's Pick on Toughest Player He Had To Guard

Green's Head-to-Head Matchups With Durant

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