Draymond Green’s Surprising Confession To Shaq Proves He Isn’t Jealous Of Rudy Gobert

The Golden State Warriors center, Draymond Green, has always been the voice that speaks bitterly of the Minnesota Timberwolves center, Rudy Gobert. Despite Rudy’s status as the Defensive Player of the Year this season, Green has been taking digs at the former in the playoff season. One of the biggest proofs of the animosity is Green’s suggestion to replace Robert with Kyle Anderson against the Nuggets. However, it seems like Green has changed his opinion. The GSW center expressed his feelings about the fellow NBA center during his appearance on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast.

“This year was actually the first time I thought he actually deserved to win Defensive Player of the Year, ” Draymond heaped up the praise for the Wolves center’s performance this year. It was rare listening to these soft words for Gobert from Green considering his words at the TNT show ‘Inside The NBA.‘ However, it wasn’t just this from the panelists on the show. He went a step ahead to elaborate on Gobert’s performance, adding, “He was checking, he was getting out, the people were bringing him a pick and roll, he was switching, he was moving his feet. It was almost like if you watched him during the year he took all of the noise that everybody said about him as a defender.”

With his recent addition to the NBA show, Green is not so much a loved one on the show. The last time he appeared on the show, he roasted the 7’1″ basketball player. He called Gobert “unplayable” for his performance against the defending champions like the Denver Nuggets. And ironically, it was also in front of Shaq.

Draymond Green’s fellow Gobert critic: Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal has also been a critic of Rudy Gobert because of his different parameters for an ideal defender. While appearing on The Big Podcast, Shaq commented, “I never thought he was a great defensive player.” Further adding to his statement, Shaq reasoned that he wanted Gobert to actually block someone rather than go for their shots. “Defense to me is guard that guy [Jokic] and shut him down. You [Gobert] want to impress me? Hold Joker under 15 points, ” O’Neal challenged the Wolves center.

Shaq’s concern for Rudy Gobert seems genuine as he does not go head-to-head against the bigwigs from the opponent team. But Rudy’s style is different, as he is not a physical defender. Yet Shaq was adamant about comparing him with the Hall of Fame defending legends like Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. Though he is much better at blocking shots rather than the former player’s opponents.

With such picky critics for his style of play, Rudy Gobert has got a long way to go in the NBA. Especially with the modifications in his playing style. Until then, visit the page for more updates and watch out for what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius through this video.