Draymond Green is the winner of the NBA Hustle Award for 2024-25, the league announced Friday.
The Golden State Warriors forward is a first-time winner of the award, which was created in 2017 to honor players who make “effort plays that don’t often appear in the traditional box score, but impact winning on a nightly basis,” according to the NBA’s announcement.
Advertisement
The league tracks “hustle stats,” including deflections, loose balls recovered, charges taken, screens set and shots contested to determine the winner of the award.
Interestingly, Green only ranked among the top 10 in charges drawn and contested 3-pointers, while placing in the top 20 in deflections and contested 2-point shots. Looking at the hustle stats page on NBA.com, one might conclude that Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks or the New York Knicks’ Josh Hart should have won the award.
However, Green ranked among the top 40 in all nine hustle categories, which made him the winner. At 35, he’s the oldest player to win the award. Previously, Green has been among the top five finishers, including runner-up in 2017 and 2023.
Advertisement
Green is also the second former Defensive Player of the Year to win the Hustle Award, joining Marcus Smart. Green won Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 and was a finalist for the honor this season. During his 13 NBA seasons, Green has also earned All-NBA status twice and All-Defensive Team honors eight times.
Finishing behind Green as the top five finishers were Cason Wallace of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Guerschon Yabusele, OKC’s Luguentz Dort and Daniels, according to the league.
Patrick Beverley was the inaugural winner of the award in 2017. Smart won the honor in 2019, 2022 and 2023 with the Boston Celtics. Last season’s winner was Alex Caruso, then with the Chicago Bulls.
Read the full article here
