However, there is someone who apparently has seen something like Curry, and while this person’s firsthand National Basketball Association experience goes back nearly 50 years, Phil Jackson only needed to recall the mid-1990s. The Zen Master is a fine authority on the subject of Curry comparisons, but right now, nearly no one will stack up with the reigning NBA MVP.
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The few who remember Abdul-Rauf’s career compare him to present-day stars like Stephen Curry or Kyrie Irving.
Much better. When put that way, it seems like Jackson was simply drawing attention to the similar styles of play between Curry and Abdul-Rauf: the point guard with a scorer’s mentality who could cook dudes from long-range and get to the rim easily. While Curry and Irving have become the focal points of their respective team’s offenses, Abdul-Rauf was always placed in a smaller role with Denver, where players like Mutombo and Antonio McDyess were given first dibs. In the 93-94 and 95-96 seasons, he led the league in free-throw percentage and only missed the all-time free-throw shooting record by one miss in the 93-94 season. That was during the Bulls’ unprecedented 72-10 season, a mark at which Curry’s Warriors are taking aim, and Abdul-Rauf helped hand Michael Jordan and Co.
Curry may not be unique in Jackson’s mind, but he has the respect of many of his peers.
Many would argue Curry has supplanted James as the best player on the planet.
But the guess here is that Jackson isn’t comparing the players’ statistics. Maybe Jackson is just a big fan.
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Phil Jackson posed his thoughts the morning after Curry’s record-setting performance in his Golden State Warriors’ thrilling overtime defeat of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
