Draymond is incredible. How many other players in the history of the game could've led the best team in the league in assists and won a defensive player of the year?
Could have?
Bill Russell, Wilt, LeBron, Pippen and Jordan come to mind. Kawhi perhaps. In 2 of the 100 perfect worlds Marcus could do it.
Lets not forget our very own Kevin Garnett!
In 02-03 he led the Timberwolves in:
- Points (23.0 PPG)
- Rebounds (13.4 RPG)
- Assists (6.0 APG)
- Steals (1.4 SPG)
- Blocks (1.6 BPG)
In 03/04 he did the same, and led the Wolves in:
- Points (24.2 PPG)
- Rebounds (13.9 RPG)
- Assists (5.0 APG)
- Steals (1.5 SPG)
- Blocks (2.2 BPG)
He was a legit DPOTY candidate in both years.
People are always so quick to put Tim Duncan above KG when ranking All-Time PFs, but I really don't think the decision is that clear cut. It's incredibly rare to see a man who is good enough to lead a Playoff team (Wolves made the playoffs both years) in all 5 major statistical categories. That is crazy and off the top of my head I can't think of anybody else in the last 20 years who has done that. I don't even think Lebron has put up enough rebounds / blocks to pull that off.
Is there anybody?
Giannis did last year. He was actually the first player in NBA history to be top-20 in every one of the "big 5" categories. I'm not sure if that was per game or season totals, though.
Indeed he did!
Though to be fair, even though Giannis did lead his team in rebounding technically, he wasn't their best rebounder - that would be Greg Monroe. But Monroe's odd playing arrangements in Milwaukee worked in Gianis' favour so he gets the milestone regardless! And the fact he did it at such a young age really is unbelievable.
I do still consider KG's case more impressive though, as he was CLEARLY the best passer, rebounder, scorer and defender on those two Minnesota teams, and he did it two years in a row (maybe more - they are just the only two I've confirmed).
Still super impressive that Giannis achieved that though, I suspect he and KG must be the only players who have done that in the past 30 years (that would take it back to 1987).
I've taken a look at all kinda of stat stuffers (Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dominique Wilkins, Larry Bird, etc) and from what I can see none of those guys have ever led their team in more than 3 categories.
Funnily enough one of the guys who came the closest was Carmelo Anthony - in 15/16 he actually led the Knicks in points (21.8 ), rebounds (7.7), assists (4.2) and tied for first in steals (0.9) - but he came well short in blocks, ranking 5th on the team at 0.5 BPG and clearly is not making any all defensive teams lol