Draymond Green, Jaren Jackson Jr. make NBA All-Defensive teams

Former Michigan State basketball stars Draymond Green and Jaren Jackson Jr. both made NBA All-Defensive teams for the 2021-22 season.

The NBA playoffs are in full swing and there have been a number of former Michigan State basketball players showcasing their talents on the big stage.

Now, there’s only one former Spartans left in the playoff field as the Golden State Warriors are playing in the Western Conference Finals, led by Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

Green helped lead the Warriors past the Memphis Grizzlies in the semifinals a round earlier, beating fellow Spartans Jaren Jackson Jr. and Xavier Tillman. All three of those guys are very similar in the fact that they play great defense inside-out.

Two of them now have something else in common: Jaren and Draymond are now both 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive honorees.

Jackson Jr. made the first team and some believe he should have been considered for defensive player of the year after leading the NBA in blocks, blocks per game, and block percentage. He was an absolute beast in the post and Michigan State fans already knew this after watching him dominate in the post for a year in 2017-18.

Draymond did his normal Draymond thing this season for the Warriors, leading the defense and being able to guard any position on the court and he’s continued that in the playoffs. The former defensive player of the year made the second team.

It’s good to see a couple of former Spartans make All-Defensive teams and that has to be a fantastic recruiting tool for Tom Izzo. He has sent two bigs to the league who are considered two of the top-10 defenders in the NBA.