Oscar Robertson is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game of basketball. That goes without saying when you consider that the man averaged a triple-double for an entire season, but he should stop talking about Stephen Curry. Robertson went on ESPN’s ‘The Mike and Mike Show’ to speak about Dell Curry‘s son, and the former NBA great was critical to the point of ridiculousness.
“Curry has shot well because of what’s going on in basketball today. In basketball today, it’s almost like if you can dunk or make a 3-point shot, you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Robertson said. “There have been some great shooters in the past, but here again, when I played if you 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.”
This is such an absurd statement. Defenses today have more tools than ever before. Everything from analytics, game film, body tracking and more are used to figure out a strategy against specific players, and all of those weapons have come up short against Curry and his Golden State Warriors. It also bears mentioning that Stephen dropped 51 points on the Orlando Magic the day of Oscar’s comments, and two nights later he scored the game-winning 3-pointer in a thrilling overtime win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Golden State is 53-5 as of Tuesday afternoon, and they have an interesting battle against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. The Warriors are on pace to win over 72 games, and this is remarkable considering that they’re in the Western Conference. Even Vegas has them favored to complete the greatest regular season in NBA history, but it won’t mean much if they can’t defend their title.
The rules have obviously changed defensively, but the only way that Curry wouldn’t be successful in a different era is if the 3-point line didn’t exist. That could’ve been a valid stance since the arc wasn’t in use during Robertson’s career; however, he didn’t mention that part.
Curry might have gotten knocked down a lot more playing in Robertson’s era, but the reigning MVP’s shooting, handles and passing would still be extraordinary. Oscar should probably refrain from commenting when it comes to talking about Curry, because it only makes the former point guard seem foolish.
