Stephen Curry is tired of everybody talking about “back in their day,” and how their teams could beat the Golden State Warriors.
On Thursday, Oscar Robertson — one of the game’s all-time greats — went on ESPN’s Mike & Mike and said that Curry’s success is a result of not having to deal with a more physical style of play.
Robertson said more:
“When I played years ago, if you shot a shot outside and hit it, the next time I’m going to be up on top of you. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now they don’t do that. These coaches do not understand the game of basketball, as far as I’m concerned.”
Stephen Jackson, who played for the 2006-2007 Warriors, said his team could have beaten the 2015-’16 Warriors.
“They’re great. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not taking nothing from them,” Jackson said. “But we could beat them. We could beat them. We would’ve beaten them.”
Stephen Jackson (@DaTrillStak5) says his #Warriors team would beat today’s Dubs.@ZachLowe_NBA can’t believe it pic.twitter.com/AQvdxpBJNj
— NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) February 25, 2016
The Warriors have the best record in NBA history through 57 games at 52-5, and have shown no signs of slowing down. They’re even favored in Vegas to surpass the 1995-’96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72-10.
However, people keep talking, and it’s beginning to irritate Steph Curry.
“It’s starting to get a little annoying just because it’s kind of unwarranted from across the board,” Curry said on the Warriors Plus/Minus podcast by the Bay Area News Group on Friday. “We have a very competent group, and we have fun when we’re out there on the floor, and it shows, obviously.”
Curry added, “We enjoy what we do. But for the most part, you don’t hear us talking about, you know, comparing ourselves to other great teams and ‘We could beat this team, we’re better than this team.’ We’re living in the moment.”
Steve Kerr also came to the defense of Curry and his team, via ESPN:
“A player from any era would be unable to guard Steph Curry. It doesn’t matter who you’re talking about. No one could guard Steph Curry,” Kerr said. “He’s too quick, too skilled, too good. You can make all sorts of other arguments. In the ’90s, there were all type of dominant big men. There aren’t many these days, that’s true. The game was different then. … There’s more ball movement, there’s more liked-sized players on the court. So things change, but I just can’t see how anybody would think that Steph would have been guardable 30 years ago, 20 years ago, whatever.”
The discussion is not likely to stop anytime soon, especially as the Warriors get closer and closer to that coveted record.
One thing is for sure: If you’re a fan of basketball, you’re enjoying this, whether or not you think the Warriors could have won at this rate in another era.
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