For Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton, the 2016-17 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award comes down to a "coin flip" between Draymond Green and Kawhi Leonard.But when push comes to shove, he's taking the Golden State Warriors' do-everything star."My favorite is Draymond Green," Payton told Bleacher Report in an interview Tuesday.Green, Leonard (San Antonio Spurs) and Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz) are seen as the three main candidates for this year's honor, which will be handed out during theNBA Awards Show onJune 26on TNT. Green was unanimously named Bleacher Report's choice for the honor."When I was playing and I looked at it, I was more of an on-ball player defensivelytry and turn you and change the game. Both of these guys change the game in great ways," Payton said."With Draymond, he gives more energy to the Golden State Warriors, as he blocks shots, as he strips people, he takes on the challenge to go one-on-one with the best player and always does it."Payton cited Green's game-changing block on Damian Lillard in Game 1 of the Warriors' first-round series against Portland as a perfect example of his impact. The block on a Lillard dunk attempt came after a 15-2 run earlier in the fourth quarter spearheaded by Green's two-way brilliance."He changes the game like a big man," Payton said. "When [Dikembe] Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning won their Defensive Player of the Year Award, they blocked shots and changed the game. [Green] does it on both ends of the floor. He can do it as a guard, and he can do it as a big man."When Draymond has a bigger guy on him, he doesn't allow the big person to get an advantage on him. He doesn't sit in the back and let him post him up. He'll be moving around, and that gives him an advantage because he can steal the basketball. He's got great hands, and that's what he does best. That's what you have to do when you're undersized and your weight isn't the same."Leonard has won the Defensive Player of the Year each of the last two seasons. He is one of eight players in league history to win the honor in back-to-back seasons.Payton said Leonard is a "better on-ball defender than Draymond" and does an excellent job of using his length to disrupt plays.A nine-time All-Defensive First Team selection and winner of the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year, Payton sees some of his game in both Leonard and Green."I see my intensity and my fire in Draymond," Payton said. "He's getting into people's faces, D'ing it up and backing up the intensity when he does it. For Kawhi, I see the moving his feet, guarding the person one-on-one, can take the basketball away from them. Then, as he's getting through picks and screens and rolls, he's getting his body over and reading the offensive player."One thing Payton does not necessarily see in today's players is an ability to hound opposing guys one-on-one. Famous for his full-court tenacity over his 17-year career, Payton has noticed a multitude of differences between his and today's NBA. The most notable is how rule changes have affected the way coaches teach their players, with Payton saying there has been a de-emphasis onstrict man-to-man defensive principles."That's the big problem about defense now," Payton said. "You don't have most coaches saying 'here's your responsibility, and you shut this player down.' Coaches don't really, really teach how to defend one-on-one and help over. They want to take the ball out of guys' hands. Then most of the guys are zoning up and sitting in the middle. It's a whole big difference from the '90s."Payton said if he played in the current NBA he wouldn't be able to be as aggressive; he described his modern style of play like "a Deion Sanders in football," where he would be roaming passing lanes and attempting to make steals. Payton says there are only a few guys in the NBA who impress with their on-ball skills."I see four defenders who are pretty good and change the game with their presence: Draymond, Kawhi, [Marcus] Smart and [Patrick] Beverley. The two I see who are big and making a big change are Kawhi and Draymond."The name missing from that list isGobert, the 7-footer who helped propel the Jazz to the West's No. 5 seed. Gobert averaged 2.6 blocks per game and is at the top of nearly every defensive metric for rim protection. Payton praised Gobert as having a "great" seasonhe just does not think his influence is on the Defensive Player of the Year level."Gobert, he's just like the typical big man. You get to the bucket, that's a great rim protectorespecially if you get beat and you know you have a guy that can clean it up...you can't knock him for that, but I think the other two who are making a bigger impact are Draymond and Kawhi."
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