Steve Kerr has seen everything. He watched Scottie Pippen hound Michael Jordan in practice every single day. He won three championships alongside Dennis Rodman, a man so consumed by defense he once guarded Shaquille O’Neal for an entire series and held him to under 20 points per game. Kerr even coached Tim Duncan in San Antonio briefly.

And by any reasonable measure, the man has been in the same building as some of the most ferocious defenders the sport has ever produced. And yet, after Draymond Green held one of the greatest scorers of his generation scoreless for an entire fourth quarter on Wednesday night, Kerr said what he has said before, and this time, he meant it more than ever. “Draymond is the best defender I’ve ever seen in my life,” Kerr declared after the Golden State Warriors stunned the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 in the NBA Play-In Tournament. “It’s just insane what he does out there.”

The tracking data revealed the full extent of Green’s dominance. On 12 separate fourth-quarter possessions, Kawhi Leonard couldn’t even get a shot off against Green—a feat no other defender has managed since Leonard joined the Clippers. After scoring 19 points through three quarters, Green neutralized Leonard until the last seconds.

Green utterly shut him down. And almost all of Leonard’s damage in the game had come against other defenders. Even the two-time champion himself had to tip his cap. “Draymond, Hall of Fame defender,” Leonard said. “It was hard to even get shots up.”

A Comeback Built on the Foundation Draymond Laid

The circumstances of the defensive masterclass made it all the more remarkable. The Warriors trailed 98-85 with under 10 minutes to play, with Golden State’s season hanging by a thread in hostile territory at Intuit Dome. The comeback that followed was Curry’s doing, dropping 27 points in the second half, including a backbreaking step-back 3-pointer with 50 seconds left to break a tie.

But the door only stayed open because Green kept slamming it shut on the other end. The four-time NBA All-Star forced two critical turnovers from Leonard in the final minute with the game still very much in the balance, icing the victory for Golden State.

Kerr was unrestrained in his post-game reflection. “It was such an incredible display of guts and competitiveness and connection,” he said. “The job he did on Kawhi. I thought our coaches did a really good job with the game plan to blitz Kawhi and try to put a crowd around him. The preparation was good, and the players really followed through.” Then came the moment that encapsulated everything: “For one night, you know, we’re us. We’re champions again. I know that may sound crazy to everybody out there. It’s a play-in game. I don’t care. It’s just absolutely beautiful to watch.”

It’s a superlative Kerr has used before, but Wednesday night’s declaration carried the full weight of their shared history.

The Warriors will now travel to face the Phoenix Suns on Friday. The winner will then earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and a first-round date with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. If they make it, it will be for Green.