A lot of the debate recently around the league has revolved around former players and league greats talking about how they would stop Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry if they were able to play against him right now. It’s the talk of the time. It’s misguided, but it’s the talk.
Well, yesterday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver came out and said what we were all thinking. That thing? Curry would have been great in any era that he played, just like some of the all-time greats before him would have been great in any era. And he’s correct.
From Monte Poole of CSNBayArea:
“Something tells me that Michael [Jordan] would’ve been great at any time and Steph would’ve been great if he had played back in the day,” [commissioner Adam] Silver said. “And Bill Russell, if he were playing today, would still be winning championships.”
It’s definitely hard to argue with this type of logic since we, legitimately, have zero idea how any player from any era would have done in a completely different setting for basketball. It’s one of those age old questions that we have zero answer to.
However, Curry has pretty much transcended the way basketball is played, and because of that he’s now the face of a game that has evolved over the last several decades. As he spearheads the Warriors’ championship run again, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny his overall greatness.
Era or no era, three-point shot or no three-point shot, the level at which Curry and the Warriors are dominating is one of the most spectacular things in the history of the game. Saying that Curry wouldn’t survive in another era basically puts those older players up on a pedestal and demeans the ones who play today.
I think it’s clear he could play in any era, just like, as Silver says, those other all-time greats would have been just as good in any other generation as they were in theirs.