Towards the end of the regular season, Draymond Green’s case to win the second Defensive Player of the Year award of his career was picking up steam, and it reached a point where the Golden State Warriors veteran was openly clamoring for voters to reward him with the acclaim.

And yet, longtime assistant coach Ron Adams pointed to Green’s intelligence as perhaps his greatest strength and the biggest reason he – along with Cleveland’s Evan Mobley and Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels – is a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Although he finished third for the Defensive Player of the Year award, Draymond Green will have some new hardware to take home in 2025. On Friday, Green was named the winner of the NBA's Hustle Award.