Draymond Green Sparks Debate Over Two of Greatest Teams of All Time
Published on July 25th, 2022 1:42 pm ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
A debate that keeps flaring up online over the past couple of months - who would win in a 7 game series between the 2017 Golden State Warriors and 1998 Chicago Bulls?
These two teams are acknowledged by most as two of the very best teams of all time.
Some believe that the Warriors would "easily" win, some believe that it would be a very closely contested series, while others believe that the Bulls would eat the Warriors for lunch.
Here are the starting line-ups for both teams:
Chicago Bulls
Ron Harper
Michael Jordan
Toni Kukoc
Scottie Pippen
Dennis Rodman
Golden State Warriors
Steph Curry
Kevin Durant
Draymond Green
JaVale McGee
Klay Thompson
The Bulls have four Hall of Famers in their starting line-up, while the Warriors have four likely inductees (Curry, KD, Thompson, possibly Green).
Everyone has their opinion, so here is ours:
The Bulls would win in 6.
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Here are five reasons why we would be taking the Bulls in this hypothetical match-up:
1. Defense.
The 1998 Chicago Bulls were a great defensive unit with three of the all-time great defenders on their team - Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Michael Jordan was 9x NBA All-Defensive First Team, 1x Defensive Player of the Year and 3x steals leader.
Scottie Pippen was 8x NBA All-Defensive First Team and the steals leader in 1995.
Dennis Rodman was 2x Defensive Player of the Year, 7x NBA All-Defensive First Team and 7x rebounding champion.
Michael Jordan on Steph Curry, Scottie Pippen on KD and Rodman on Draymond Green would be some of the likely match-ups.
The Warriors were undoubtedly one of the best offensive units in the history of the league, though the Bulls had THREE all-time great defensive players.
The Bulls aren't going to sit around and watch the Warriors put up three-pointers all game. They are going to lock them down and frustrate them, which brings us to the next point..
2. Frustration.
Let's start with the obvious - Dennis Rodman vs Draymond Green.
Dennis Rodman is one of the all-time great "pests" in the history of the NBA, while Draymond Green is known for having a hot head.
How quickly would Rodman frustrate Green and get him thrown out of games?
In a seven-game series, you'd have to figure that Green would "blow his top" at least a couple of times while playing against Rodman.
In addition, Rodman is one of the all-time great rebounders and would likely completely neutralize Green around the rim.
On top of that, with MJ on Steph and Pippen on KD, how many easy looks are the Warriors getting? How would they fare if they had to kick, claw and scratch for every basket?
The Bulls rarely lost their cool, which is how they were able to win six titles.
Can the same be said for the Warriors?
3. Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan gets his own bullet point.
When you have the greatest player in the history of the game on your side, you will always have the advantage.
We are talking about Michael Jordan, the player who averaged 35 points per game and won the DPOY award in the SAME SEASON.
We are talking about the player who could adapt to any situation and come out on top.
Michael Jordan would have lived for this series, and you know he would have been looking to make a statement.
Can you actually bet against Michael Jordan in this scenario?
4. Coaching/Gameplan.
Steve Kerr is undoubtedly a fantastic coach - there is no debate there.
Phil Jackson, however, is an all-time great coach, so you'd have to give the Bulls the edge here as well.
5. Physicality.
How would the 2017 Golden State Warriors hold up against a team that is playing smothering, physical defense?
Again - the Bulls had three all-time great defenders on their team.
Can the Warriors say the same?
Would the high-scoring Warriors be able to maintain their composure in a seven-game series when they are getting challenged every time? Would players like Green and KD get rattled by the constant physical play?
As mentioned, the Bulls wouldn't get rattled. Can we say the same about the Warriors?
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Defense and composure would be the two keys to this series. Over a seven-game series, the Warriors would likely lose their composure at key moments, thanks to the likes of Dennis Rodman, who was an absolute master at getting under the opposition's skin.