VolumeValuable3537

394 | 12 hours ago

It was the same thing on the Suns.

sloBrodanChillosevic | Supersonics

260 | 10 hours ago

Was gonna say. He’s been an elite defender for a decade now. After the Suns let go of Ayton, KD was their fucking rim protector for a minute. He’s one of the more unappreciated great defenders of my lifetime at minimum.

RedHammer1441

86 | 8 hours ago

Wasn’t he also very solid on the Warriors defensively. I remember during one of their playoffs runs they were bringing up his defensive stats and I remember being pleasantly surprised. I’m sure the reduced overall offensive responsibility helps a bunch.

pacific_plywood | Warriors

41 | 6 hours ago

He led the league in blocks per game for a while during one of the warriors years

RobertoDowney | GSW

1 | 5 minutes ago

He was a legit candidate for DPOY for the first half or so of the 2017-18 season but slowed down a bit then missed a chunk of games down the stretch and didn’t finish the year super strong defensively coming off injury leading up to the playoffs.

Still finished top 10 in voting though - was insanely good on defense for us especially having to guard out of position so often when we were playing small lineups.

ynomeye | Warriors

13 | 7 hours ago

https://youtu.be/tDz09EUheCQ

Demon

TuxedoCat031

48 | 8 hours ago

what woke me up to KD’s defense was this one game where they benched Nurkic because he was such a bum, and they played KD at the 5 to make a 20 point comeback anchored by his defense.

don’t even remember who they play but i was appalled his defense was so solid for his age and injuries

sloBrodanChillosevic | Supersonics

24 | 8 hours ago

It was way too much to ask a 35-year-old wing to do, but he did a pretty admirable job anyway, far better than that tantrum-throwing Suns fan is claiming in this thread

MahomesMccaffrey | Slovenia

9 | 5 hours ago

KD and Shawn Marion both never made all defensive teams.

They both should at least make 2-3 all defensive second teams IMO

iLov3musk | Lakers

-6 | 2 hours ago

LBJ > KD

Euphoric_Travel6762 | Thunder

5 | an hour ago

Brah no shit but where was he mentioned and he has plenty of all defense teams

popop143 | Celtics

5 | 5 hours ago

It’s because of his lank that he isn’t talked about much more as a defender.

Dudedude88 | Wizards

2 | 4 hours ago

His defense on the nets sucked but granted he was coming back from injury.

CJ4ROCKET | Rockets

18 | 9 hours ago

Tell that to Suns fans

speedism | Suns

13 | 7 hours ago

We been knowing this bro it’s not news

CJ4ROCKET | Rockets

7 | 6 hours ago

You’re one of the good ones

speedism | Suns

17 | 6 hours ago

Let’s not get carried away now

Mosh00Rider | Suns

0 | 4 hours ago

None of us shit talk him for his gameplay. We do shit talk him but it’s not grounded in his play whatsoever. Shit talking players who didn’t like Phoenix is just in our blood man.

Some of us, me included, were pissed he didn’t get all defense with us.

CJ4ROCKET | Rockets

2 | 3 hours ago

None? The only Suns fan that responded to the main comment said “Lazy fucker played no defense” lol

Mosh00Rider | Suns

2 | an hour ago

You mean the dude that got ass blasted with down votes and comments with Suns fans that disagree with him? That fucker?

latman | Nets

6 | 8 hours ago

And the Nets

AZAHole | Suns

-100 | 11 hours ago

Lazy fucker played zero defense on the Suns

Ingr1d | Thunder

80 | 11 hours ago

I genuinely have no idea why your fanbase hates him.

Hextorz

49 | 11 hours ago

Our fans had unrealistic expectations of him, they wanted him to be a vocal leader of the team and that’s just not who he is.

skullcandy541

7 | 11 hours ago

Well didn’t he get the vocal leader of the team in CP traded for fucking Beal? That would make me hate him too.

dankq | Rockets

5 | 5 hours ago

Booker also was on board and pushed for that trade doo though.

Ingr1d | Thunder

2 | 4 hours ago

I hope you keep the same energy for Booker. Sounds to me like KD just got scapegoated.

AZAHole | Suns

-63 | 11 hours ago

He’s a lazy, weed addicted, piece of shit that only cares about trolling online and his own stats. Fuck KD forever.

darylmoreyisking | 76ers

40 | 10 hours ago

Lmao

fly_lice | Nuggets

9 | 8 hours ago

It’s a new year, take some time to reflect on that anger of yours brudda

PhoenixBloodline

3 | 7 hours ago

That’s clearly a trolling gimmick acount based on the name.

VolumeValuable3537

24 | 11 hours ago

That’s not true. At time in the seasons, he had the lowest opponent FG% and then dropped only behind Wemby just like this year.

EightBlocked | NBA

22 | 10 hours ago

he was the best defender on the team

AZAHole | Suns

-25 | 10 hours ago

Doesnt say much for an entire roster that took his lead and played lazy fucking useless basketball for 2 years. Fuck that cancer.

CJ4ROCKET | Rockets

13 | 9 hours ago

What does that say about your roster? Like I don’t agree with you, but if what you say is true, what does that say about a guy like Booker? Is he not a fully grown adult and professional?

AZAHole | Suns

-4 | 9 hours ago

KD was Book’s idol. It was disappointing that he deferred to a guy that turned out to be a lazy fucking cancer. It was even more disappointing that a supposed all time superstar turned out to be a lazy team killing fucking cancer.

therealchappy24 | Nets

13 | 9 hours ago

Are you drunk

dankq | Rockets

6 | 5 hours ago

I think they are just hyperfixating and using KD as a scapegoat because they don’t want to blame Booker at all for also pushing for the trade or the FO for caving to both of them.

AZAHole | Suns

-2 | 9 hours ago

Are you dead?

IOnlyLieWhenITalk | Hawks

2 | 4 hours ago

So far your team is the only one that failed to utilize him. Tells me the problem probably wasn’t KD

CozyisCozy

17 | 11 hours ago

that’s just not true lmao

Mosh00Rider | Suns

1 | 4 hours ago

He was an insane defender for us.

OKC2023champs | Thunder

238 | 12 hours ago

Kd was always an underrated defender. Especially during okc-warriors era.

However, he’s guarding like the 4th and 5th best players rn and definitely does not have a case for all defense.

baxmussman | Warriors

90 | 11 hours ago

He was our second best defender for those years imo. And that’s only because Draymond was in the midst of an all time defensive peak.

Wazflame

54 | 11 hours ago

You can’t underestimate his value as a rim protector on those Warriors teams

lethalizered | Thunder

17 | 10 hours ago

Yeah he just continued his defensive play from the 15-16 season basically. Wasn’t surprised at all to see him like that.

I still wonder if that cupcake of a man stayed and we got Horford that season, would have had a legendary 16-17 season probably.

baxmussman | Warriors

5 | 10 hours ago

No doubt OKC would have been very good. They would have certainly continued to apply pressure to the Dubs and Spurs at the top of the Western Conference. I would assume they’d even have passed the Spurs for that 1B spot as Duncan kept aging.

But I don’t think they would have utilized KD defensively like we did. They still had Ibaka, and if they’d added Horford it would have been even less likely. What made KD such a defensive revelation for us was playing him as a 5 on defence with Draymond. He became such a good help defender and rim protector that it was basically like having 2 Draymonds out there at the same time. 2 guys who could credibly switch everything, guard bigs, and protect the rim.

With Ibaka and Horford in the mix for OKC, he probably just stays a very good wing defender. But that’s not really how we ended up using him.

lethalizered | Thunder

3 | 9 hours ago

Ibaka was gone in that scenario still though, we’d still have Oladipo and Sabonis instead of him. Those were seperate moves.

baxmussman | Warriors

-2 | 8 hours ago

Didn’t they not trade Ibaka till 2019? Or did he make a pit stop between OKC and Toronto that I blanked on?

lethalizered | Thunder

6 | 8 hours ago

We traded him to the Magic during the summer of 2016 lol, yeah you blanked very very hard on that one.

Albiceleste_D10S

2 | 5 hours ago

He was our second best defender for those years imo.

I feel like Iguodola was prob 2nd and KD 3rd in 2017 and 2018 especially

Akipella | Warriors

1 | 6 hours ago

I feel like he was 3rd after Iggy but it’s debatable. Klay was solid too

HesiPullup | Suns

20 | 11 hours ago

I was so surprised by how good is help defense is though

JarJarsBallsackEyes

3 | 9 hours ago

i don’t think you’ve been watching enough rockets basketball if you’re making a statement like that. he’s been fantastic defensively all year, he absolutely has a case

OKC2023champs | Thunder

9 | 9 hours ago

It’s possible I haven’t watched enough for sure. My sample size 5-8 full games is going to be much different than rockets fans who have watched every game.

It sucks. So much good ball to watch and so little time to decide which games to watch

latman | Nets

2 | 8 hours ago

In GS everyone knew how good he was at D

lethalizered | Thunder

1 | 10 hours ago

He was a pretty bad defender but once he started to play the 4 more regularly he started to shine more and more as a help defender.

That 15-16 season was incredible for him really, I’ll hate the man forever I’ll give his props, that year he was amazing on D.

Awanderingleaf

216 | 11 hours ago

He has always been a good defender. He is a 7 footer with length, his offense just overshadows his defensive abilities.

Wolf_ZBB_2005 | Thunder

48 | 9 hours ago

Eh… he was asked to do too much on offense and wasn’t as smart of a player in OKC.

yeartwelve | Bulls

9 | 6 hours ago

he had a season in okc where people wanted him to get DPOY votes, I think it was around the time he won mvp

rocket_beer | Celtics

29 | 11 hours ago

Yeah but his shoulder-to-should span is only 7 inches so…

FireFlyz351 | Slovenia

18 | 8 hours ago

‘Only 7 inches’ :(

moby323 | 76ers

108 | 12 hours ago

He’s defending like a father now

No-Salary5449

6 | 8 hours ago

defending like a lawyer

can you hoop and talk?

thats what he whispers to the man hes guarding

Legitimate_Buy_919 | Slovenia

51 | 11 hours ago

Wemby at 38% when he’s primarily guarding the rim is crazy.

SunKing210 | Spurs

21 | 11 hours ago

I’m a bit surprised to be honest, if you watch Spurs games you can see when Wemby is brought out to the perimeter and a player blows by another Spurs player for a good look at the rim, Wemby likes to charge down to the rim to contest the shot he has no business of defending since he will be the furthest defender

Sometimes it works and sometimes the opposing player is able to finish the play and I’m pretty sure that counts against Victor since he’s technically the closest defender when they score

jm3546 | Thunder

18 | 10 hours ago

He’s really not though, like he’s guarding 5.5 FGAs within 6 feet and his DFG%-expected FG% differential is -10.4.

Which is pretty comparable to guys like Chet (5.6 DFGAs, -12.4), Rudy (6.2, -15.9), Zubac (5.8, -10.6), Hart (3.8, -15.2), etc.

But the thing he’s doing that is really unique is defending the 3pt line a lot and really well at 5.5 DFGAs and hold players to 25.7% (-8.9). That’s because with his length he can close out more quickly and he blocks a lot of 3pt shots.

Other good defensive centers defend 3 well like Chet (4.4, -2.9) and Rudy (4.3, -1.1), but just not to that magnitude.

tj1721

4 | 5 hours ago

The problem with any of these numbers is it doesn’t really capture the all important context of the shot.

For example it doesn’t the capture the difference between somebody being a primarily under the rim vertical shot blocker and somebody who is doing that and also coming in to block from the perimeter and only getting “semi-contests” on shots that aren’t really from their defensive assignment.

Defensive stats are super hard.

SnakesAlive23 | Suns

27 | 11 hours ago

That’s how he was on the Suns. But it’s partially due to usually being on the worst offensive player on the floor.

Several_Hour_347

23 | 11 hours ago

Most surprising part of this stat is only 81 players have defended 250 shots. Also that according to the comments, KD only guards the worst player, but still managed to be part of the 81 guarding 250 shots

CanIMakeUpaName

0 | 3 hours ago

so he’s a help defender?

heat_fan_ | Raptors

19 | 11 hours ago

He was a underrated defender

ShaiFanClub | Thunder

11 | 12 hours ago

He’s usually guarding the worst offensive player on the court

SloshaPacana

43 | 11 hours ago

The players he is guarding are shooting 47.1, he is holding them to way worse than their average with 40% lol and this is top comment

ThirdEyeKaiii

1 | an hour ago

I mean look at that clown’s flair lol, tells you all you need to know about his totally unbiased opinion

drpepper7557 | Heat

2 | 10 hours ago

How are these two things contradictory?

CJ4ROCKET | Rockets

12 | 9 hours ago

Well, for one, league average FG% this year is 47%. So if the folks he guards are shooting 47% on average, it is at least hard to believe that he’s usually guarding the worst offensive player on the court. Perhaps it could be the case but the evidence seems to suggest otherwise.

Frodounchainedd | Lakers

-9 | 11 hours ago

He is 7 feet tall and has good foot speed if he bought in earlier he probably had a few all defensive teams.

Key_Speed_3710

1 | 5 hours ago

Kd has been a good defender for a very long time. But it’s on offence where he makes his money.

RTLT512 | HOU

25 | 11 hours ago

Not always. If Reed is on the court, he’ll start on the worst offensive player. If there is a non-shooting wing on the court, Ime will stick Sengun/Adams on them so they can roam the paint.

And even if KD starts on a weaker offensive player, Houston switches all ball screens not involving a big so the match-ups usually change a lot possession by possession.

Successful-Case-2704 | Jordan

4 | 9 hours ago

Not really. Their wings are switching most of the time and the roster is basically 90% wings. Only Amen stays with his man if it’s a superstar

Diligent-Earth-9853

8 | 11 hours ago

Kd has been an underrated defender for most of his career lol. His offensive scoring prowess overshadows the hell out of his defense

logster2001 | Rockets

3 | 8 hours ago

I have watched almost every game he has played this season and he is probably the worst defender in our rotation. He has the benefit of guarding the worst player on the other team every night

ThirdEyeKaiii

0 | an hour ago

Lol ya I’m sooo sure Sengun and Reed are better defenders than him

Whatever801 | Jazz

2 | 11 hours ago

Surprised he’s never made an all defensive team. He’s always been pretty elite

HeyItsChase | Pacers

2 | 10 hours ago

Posting this after the Pacer game was dirty work. Had to boost those numbers.

Few_Section6416

2 | 7 hours ago

Rockets also plays really good help defence and KD defends relativly many 3-point shooters.

MFFiasco

2 | 2 hours ago

KD has been an underrated defender his entire career.

Icy-Salad-8590

1 | 8 hours ago

I think these closest defender percentage stats are only useful for centers within 6 feet of the basket

But yeah kd d is good

aceknighthigh

1 | 6 hours ago

Man the gap between Wemby and the rest is insane.

ConfusedComet23

1 | 2 hours ago

The opponent shooting numbers outside 6 feet don’t really matter much. It’s much more about who’s shooting and there is a lot of noise there

TheAgmis | Thunder

0 | 11 hours ago

He’s never been all nba defense

True_Scallion_7011

0 | 5 hours ago

Guy is a long and lanky 7 footer. He has zero excuses to be a bad defender

karlchad1

-13 | 11 hours ago

KD marketing team at work

warriors_of_hope | Warriors

-14 | 11 hours ago

Stat-watcher. Sigh.

dameplsrunfromgrind

-20 | 11 hours ago

Kawhi gave him 40 and locked him up on the other end

Levels

xXEliteEater500Xx

9 | 11 hours ago

Delusional Clippers stan

UncleNaughty | Lakers

4 | 11 hours ago

OKC has y’all’s pick. :)

viktorfbg9 | Rockets

3 | 10 hours ago

Somehow Kawhi gave 40 to both Amen and KD. Did he have a 100 point game that i missed?

Kevin Durant has been an elite defender this season. Opponents are shooting just 40.2% when guarded by him, 2nd best to Wemby (38.2%) among the 81 players to contest at least 250 shots. He also ranks in the 91st percentile in defensive EPM.