Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, Dennis Rodman, Stephen Jackson, Cedric Ceballos and many others have all claimed over the past couple of years that their great teams from days past could beat the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors.
We will never get to see the Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers take on Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Julius Erving versus Kevin Durant could be a great battle between scoring wings but unfortunately, they missed each other by about 30 years. Richard Hamilton was a master of moving without the ball but we won’t be able to see if Klay Thompson could keep up with him. And a battle inside with Draymond Green going up against either Dennis Rodman or Rasheed Wallace would be interesting and very physical but, you guessed it, it’s not happening.
Everyone is coming out of the woodwork to prop up their memorable squads and proclaiming they can beat the Warriors, an overall irrelevant argument. But what do the Warriors actually think about it? For head coach Steve Kerr, it’s not even an issue or a relevant topic to discuss.
Following from Jimmy Durkin of the Mercury News.
For all those former greats turned hot takers, Steve Kerr has your back: The Warriors would have no chance against any of the great teams of the past.
“They’re all right,” Kerr said at Friday’s shootaround in advance of Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
“They would all kill us. The game gets worse as time goes on. Players are less talented than they used to be. The guys in the ’50s would’ve destroyed everybody. It’s weird how human evolution goes in reverse in sports. Players get weaker, smaller, less skilled. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
Kerr is, of course, talking with his usual healthy dose of sarcasm.
