Golden State is led by a big three of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, all of whom are on the latter half of their NBA careers. Just before Game 4 of the series, where the Warriors will face the Rockets on Monday at 10 p.m. ET, Curry received a prestigious NBA honor.

Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors is not the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year, but he got a consolation prize of sorts the day after he found out that he'd finished third. Green is the winner of this season's Hustle Award, the NBA announced Friday.

And yet, longtime assistant coach Ron Adams pointed to Green’s intelligence as perhaps his greatest strength and the biggest reason he – along with Cleveland’s Evan Mobley and Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels – is a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award.