Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson has quickly earned a reputation as one of the league’s brightest young defenders, already landing on the All-NBA Defensive First Team in just his second season.
But according to Thompson, defense is about more than athletic gifts, it’s about IQ.
“I feel like what makes the best defenders good is their IQ,” Thompson said on The Young Man and The Three podcast. “I’ll give Draymond (Green) some credit. We play Draymond, and you know, he’s not super athletic. Obviously, he got long arms but he’s not gonna wow you athletically. But he’s talking all the time.
“He’ll put himself in that position knowing you’re gonna do something and then bounce back to that position and get a steal. I feel like the best defenders, they kinda play offense on defense, if you know what I mean.”
That philosophy mirrors what analysts have been saying for years. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has described Green as a defensive quarterback.
“He was just a monster in that end in the way he yelled out coverages. He is the best defensive communicator I have seen in my life,” Vecenie said on the Game Theory podcast.
Thompson seems to be following a similar path, blending athleticism with awareness. Last season, he was one of only two players in the NBA to average at least 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, Anthony Davis was the other, but he did not meet the 58-game requirement to qualify for league leaderboards.
His résumé already includes being just the seventh player in history to make First Team All-Defense by year two, joining legends like Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Walt Frazier and Victor Wembanyama.
Unlike Green, Thompson also flashes offensive upside. He averaged 3.8 assists and connected on nearly 56 percent of his field goal attempts last season. With his foundation on defense and growing scoring punch, Thompson looks poised to become one of the league’s most complete two-way forces.
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