the Kai Cenat Live podcast<\/a>, Green was asked the question every fan wants to know: \u201cWho\u2019s the hardest player to guard?\u201d<\/p>\nGreen paused for a moment before clarifying, \u201cRight now or in my career?\u201d And then came the answer everyone expected but still wanted to hear: \u201cThe hardest now is Joker,\u201d Green said, referring to Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Joki\u0107.<\/p>\n
\u201cI play with Steph, so I don\u2019t have that headache. Joker\u2026 Luka will always be one of the toughest covers, but that ain\u2019t my matchup. Of my matchups, the hardest to guard right now is Joker.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a serious compliment from someone who\u2019s built a Hall of Fame r\u00e9sum\u00e9 locking down the league\u2019s best. Green has never shied away from a challenge, but he admits Joki\u0107 presents a puzzle no defender has truly solved.<\/p>\n
Why Does Green Call Nikola Joki\u0107 the Toughest Matchup?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no real surprise that Green pointed to Joki\u0107. The three-time MVP and 2023 Finals MVP has become nearly impossible to slow down. He\u2019s got the size to punish defenders inside, the touch to score with floaters and jumpers, and the patience to wait for exactly the right shot.<\/p>\n
His elite passing is what separates him from everyone else, and perhaps why he gives Green the most trouble. Most bigs struggle under double-teams, but Joki\u0107 thrives in them. He sees the floor like a point guard, slipping passes to cutters or spraying the ball to open shooters when help arrives.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Even a great defender feels stuck against him. Play him one-on-one, and he scores; send help, and he creates something even easier for his teammates.<\/p>\n
Simply put, Joki\u0107 controls the pace of every possession. Defenses react to him, not the other way around. And for a defender like Green, who prides himself on dictating terms, that\u2019s the ultimate challenge.<\/p>\n
The numbers back it up, too. In 21 career games against Green, Joki\u0107 has averaged 17.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists, proving that even against one of the best defenders of his generation, he still finds ways to make an impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Draymond Green has made a career out of shutting down the league\u2019s brightest stars. The Golden State Warriors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-136047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}