It's always been like that
Wilt , kareem, magic ( yeah he was a solid defender) Jordan , kobe /duncan, LeBron
Remember when you had to be a good player on both ends of the floor to be considered great?
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Wilt , kareem, magic ( yeah he was a solid defender) Jordan , kobe /duncan, LeBron
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Making the All Defensive First team 9 fukking times while dominating people on offense sets the bar pretty high.
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Oh lord this bullshyt again
90s were the golden era of basketball, college and pro. Not even debatable.
Riley used to hide Magic on defense, especially if he was matched up against waterbug guards.
Boonapalist
Superstar
Jordan, Wilt, and Lebron are anomalies. Magic was solid at team defense but use to get hid in defense. The years Kobe was considered the best in the league his defense was overrated.
The God Poster
LWO representa
fixed
Mantis Toboggan M.D.
I’m here for the scraps
You know how much
basketball was in the NBA in the 90's? Do some research on how weak expansion made the league man. It's alarming.
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You know how much
[Nah breh
Goatpoacher
Superstar
But when its followed by Kobe and Bron both being great on that end too
Kobe played strong defense for 2 seasons. Lebron played strong defense for 5 seasons. Lebron looked like the DPOY one season. Kobe never was close to DPOY.
Elite means the best. Truth is, Jordan wasn't even the best perimeter defender on his team. Lebron's first year in Miami he looked like the best perimeter defender in the league, but he's slacked on that front every year since.
Sadly, nobody mentioned TD or KG, two actual elite defenders...
The serious Curry GOAT discussions are offense only where he's legit producing a GOAT tier season. Everyone knows his defense hurts the argument against the likes of Jordan & LeBron who are two of the greatest wing defenders of all time on top of being dominant individual offensive forces, and as a PG there's only so much he can really do to influence the way that his team defends.
Doesn't really mean he can't build a case among the top 10-15 players of all time which is absolutely not filled with elite defensive players and in terms of peak he's already there on the strength of his unprecedented match of volume scoring + efficiency and playmaking that goes beyond the box score.
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To be considered the greatest basketball player, or near the GOAT, you have to play defense in my eyes.
It says greatest basketball player, and a basketball player is just more than shooting and offense. Defense is half the game.
Curry is amazing. Not taking anything away from him but he can't defend. At all.
Kill Dat Noize
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powering your team offensively and consistently having them score more points than the other team is a good defense too.
Defense is half the game from a team perspective, not individual especially for perimeter players who do not have the same influence on a defense than a big that can shut down the paint and help blow up P&R possesions.
Again, people are arguing Curry as GOAT from an offensive perspective. Complaining about his defense as compared to MJ/Bron is a moot point since no one is seriously saying that he's better overall.
Curry CAN defend especially for what his position asks of him, and it doesn't take away from his status as best in the league or among the greatest we've seen from a peak perspective.
AlbertPullhoez
The Takeover
We still got Kawhi though
May repeat as DPOY while averaging 20+ ppg while flirting with a 50/40/90.
Jimmy Buckets is another . But there really isn't many great perimeter players who are elite at both ends now.
Kawhi, Butler, Bron and who else?
May repeat as DPOY while averaging 20+ ppg while flirting with a 50/40/90.
Jimmy Buckets is another . But there really isn't many great perimeter players who are elite at both ends now.
Kawhi, Butler, Bron and who else?
