Discourse over players not being able to play in specific eras has never led to anything productive coming out of it. Steph Curry is the latest victim of such discourse. Scottie Pippen, in a recent interview, declared the 2016 unanimous league MVP wouldn’t be able to handle certain aspects of a certain era.
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Rules have differed in terms of defense over the decades. Hand—checking was allowed back in the 90s and was removed from the league in 2004. While this may lead to fans believing defenses are now ‘soft’ compared to then, that certainly isn’t the case.
Zones weren’t allowed in the NBA until the 2001-02 season. Modern defenses are heavily reliant on the cognitive ability to maneuver around a zone, making today’s defenses far more complex and intricate.
Pippen however, seems to only believe in defenses that club players across the cranium. Well, he didn’t say that outright but whenever talk about the 80s and 90s comes up, borderline assault is always a talking point.
In an interview with Marca, Pippen said, “The 90s rules? Steph Curry is not the same player. For us to play in their era? It would be like breaking out of jail. You got freedom. No one is knocking you to the floor.”
Technically, yes. Curry wouldn’t be the same player. But his value would not diminish to any point less than a couple percent at the most. In fact, there’s a high chance he would an even better player. He’d essentially be stretching the defense out beyond anything 90s players were used to. A simple brush screen and Curry’s wide open for a practice-like 3.
This isn’t the first time someone’s disrespected Curry and his abilities if he was in the 90s. Charles Barkley did the same a while ago.
“As much as I love Steph Curry, and I love Steph Curry, can you imagine the Bad Boys beating the hell out of him? You really think he wouldn’t break?”
Not all players of that era however are down on Steph. Greg Anthony, an 11-year NBA vet, was in his corner, saying, “This is foolish talk, seriously. Every generation tries to trash the current players.”
Curry has never addressed this talk. Though, it would be unwise to believe he doesn’t hear some of the noise. He probably doesn’t care and rightfully so as he’s cemented himself as a top-12 player in league history.
