Almost everything we expect from an exciting NBA game happened in the back-to-back matchups between the Spurs and Warriors last week. Stephen Curry was on his Michael Jordan streak. Victor Wembanyama was catching alley-oops and doing poster dunks. Stephon Castle’s chemistry with Wemby was a spectacle. Draymond Green was putting on a defensive masterclass. Draymond Green was also jawing at a rude fan. Dray also stuffed the trash talk and fouls into the game. While fans could do with more of all this, Green walked out of the game with two road wins and a lot of satisfaction.

Green was back on his podcast after the Warriors’ road trip and you can tell battling Wemby was an adrenaline rush. “Had the chance to battle with the big fella, Wemby. And man, I must say, there’s still nothing that compares to battling with the best. Man, like the adrenaline, the excitement of the game, like the focus level that it requires, there’s still nothing that compares to that. That’s the thing that, man, that’s the thing that keeps you going.”

6’6″ Green spent both games as the undersized thorn in Wemby’s side. The French phenom made him work very, very hard. Almost as hard as Steph Curry does to opposing defenders.

“You know, Wemby’s 21 years old. I felt like I was chasing around Steph Curry at times,” Dray said. He described the Spurs’ strategic plays around the young center that made him difficult to guard. Green claims a standard big, like an Al Horford, is ineffective against Wemby and the Spurs’ strategy. Green took that responsibility and truly exhausted himself doing that.

“The thing with Wemby, what I realized is it is so freakin’ tiring guarding him because you can’t relax. Again, it goes back to like guarding Steph. Like the moment the moment you go to relax, the possession’s over because all Steph need is this much time to get a shot off. And so you relax for a half a second and he’s gone, and you get a half a step behind. You can’t make the ground up because of how well he shoots the ball.”

Green has the privilege of drawing that parallel as Curry’s teammate. While he kept Wemby busy, Spurs’ defenders couldn’t slow down Curry who had consecutive 46 and 49 points against them. Which pretty much makes Dray’s point.

Steph Curry prepared his teammate for Victor Wembanyama

There was a viral moment during Friday’s game when Wemby responded to Draymond Green’s trash talk by catching an alley-oop from Stephon Castle with his left hand and making a poster dunk. It didn’t count because Green was already called for a foul in that battle for position. Yet Green said the only person who could catch that lob was Victor Wembanyama. It’s exactly why Dray couldn’t relax with the youngster.

“With Wemby, if you relax for one second and he take off and he get a half a step on you, most guys there’s a way to make up the ground. With Wemby, you can’t make up the ground. His stride is so long. He’s so tall. Once he raise up to shoot, you you no longer can affect the shot. So you can really only affect Wemby’s shot if on the work that you do before he gets the ball, because once he raised up to shoot, he don’t see you anymore. Like, it’s just now him and the rim and the ball. He no longer sees the defender.”

The former DPOY was no slouch when he was guarding Wemby. On an average, the Spurs center is 10-of-21 from the field with 46.9% from the field and 3-for-eight or 33.9% from the three-point range. When he’s guarded by Draymond Green, Wemby falls to 8/21 (38.1%) and 2/5  (40%) beyond the arc. His turnovers increased from 3.6 to 6 against the Warriors too.

Statistically, the Spurs were far superior. Wemby even had impressive 31 and 26 points against them. They simply couldn’t match up to Curry’s offensive output while Green wouldn’t let Wembanyama be nearly as productive as he should be. Maybe being The Chef’s teammate is exactly what you need to guard Victor Wembanyama.