One of the recent trends in very banal NBA analysis has been retired players saying that Steph Curry couldn’t have done what he’s doing right now when they played. Oscar Robertson, Walt Frazier, and Charles Barkley, among others, have joined that bandwagon, but there is one retired NBA sharpshooter that has come to Steph’s defense: Dennis Scott.
CSN Bay Area talked to Scott about Curry’s year, and the “get off my lawn” mentality that many ex-players have towards him.
“They couldn’t do it,” Dennis Scott said Tuesday. “It’s just that simple.
“That’s why we shooters are not mad at him.”
Scott hit 267 threes for the Orlando Magic back in 1995-96, the same year the Bulls went 72-10. Ray Allen hit 269 a decade after Scott set the record, and Curry is on pace to hit 400 this season, blowing both Allen and Scott out of the water. He’s hit 301 with 20 games left to go in the regular season.
Scott thinks Curry can hit 400, and could perhaps surpass even that number.
“At the beginning of the year, it sounded crazy,” said Scott, in the Bay Area as an analyst for NBATV and TNT. “People don’t understand. When I broke the record, I was taking nine 3s a game. Steph is taking 11 or 12. That’s what you should do when they’re going in.
“The numbers don’t seem normal because most people cannot shoot from where he can shoot. But I’m loving every bit of it.”
And for the kicker, Scott has advice for those wanting to compare players across eras.
“If you want to compare eras, go to the barber shop.”
Wise man. There’s nothing wrong with comparing players from different eras, but it’s silly to completely dismiss the accomplishments of a current player with a simple-minded critique of his play.
