It’s no secret that the current generation of the NBA is fed up with how the mainstream media compares them to the past. But the vitrol has reached another level following the historic performances of Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic on Tuesday night.
In the morning after Curry’s explosive 52-point night, the trending topic wasn’t about the greatness of the two-time MVP.
Instead, it was another surface-level basketball generation debate, spurred on by Stephen A. Smith.
“I had a Hall-of-Famer come up to me and he said to me, ‘Stephen Curry would not have averaged more than 17 points a game,’” Smith said. “Obviously, I think that person should have been drug tested. But then, I quieted down because he wasn’t talking about his skill set. He said, ‘In our era, we would have hurt him.’”
But Curry’s long-time head coach, Steve Kerr, came to the defense of the current generation of NBA talent. On 95.7 The Game, Kerr pointed out the lack of appreciation in the aftermath of Curry and Jokic’s incredible games.
“If these types of games had happened 10 years ago, honestly, I think NBA fans would’ve been absolutely losing their minds,” Kerr said, as someone who has played with legends like Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan. “I think our game is being taken for granted right now. What these guys are doing is so spectacular. I never could have survived the NBA if I were playing today. These guys are so talented and you read these articles that are like, ‘The NBA product isn’t so good.’ Are you kidding me? Are you looking at these guys? They are just spectacular. They have never been more skilled. I’m just blown away by what I see night to night.”
NBA players fed up with the past generations’ negativity
This isn’t the first time the NBA media’s negativity has drawn ire from current players and coaches. Earlier this season, LeBron James went scorched earth on the NBA media. When debates about Anthony Edwards being the face of the league were running wild across the NBA landscape, James posted a lengthy rant on X about the negative coverage dominating NBA talking points.
“This is about the impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game and our fans,” James wrote. “I know I speak for a lot of players and more importantly, a helluva lot of great fans that truly love and celebrate this sport around the world.”
And, like Kerr, James has also pushed back on the notion that current players such as Stephen Curry wouldn’t be able to play in the older eras, albeit a lot more directly.
The King made headlines during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show when he said, “You trying to tell me Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn’t be able to play [in] an NBA game in the 70s? He would average 250 points a game in the 70s!”
James’s comments drew a fierce debate on The Draymond Green Show between Green and co-host Baron Davis.
“These [older] eras don’t respect us. I’ve seen several guys talk over and over again [about us] not in a positive light,” Green said. “I don’t think respect is passed down to us from the other generations. But I think people are quick to say, ‘Oh, you got to respect them because they came before.’ I don’t agree with that… Just because you played before me does not mean you deserve respect.”
Where does the NBA media go from here?
The NBA is in a strange place right now. There has never been more talent across the league, and yet, there’s never been more negativity across the NBA landscape. Whether it’s the older generation hating on the new era or people believing that the 3-pointer analytics have made every team play the same, the attention of the NBA has shifted toward the drama of the league and away from the actual basketball product.
For Kerr, the issue stems from the sheer amount of talent normalizing the collective high skill of the league.
“We don’t even bat an eye anymore because this is just commonplace,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game
Stephen Curry, the player who has been the recent talking point in the old-versus-new debate, has his own opinion on the general negativity. In an interview with the Athletic, Curry shared why he thinks there’s so much negativity in the NBA.
“Sometimes, a narrative starts, and everybody starts to kind of feed into it, not actually come in with an informed kind of perspective,” Curry told The Athletic. “And if you’re not watching from night to night to night, and you kind of swan dive in and watch a game and you can say ‘Oh, yeah, this is different than my dad’s, or my parents’ NBA.’ Yeah, it’s evolved. [But] the nuance of the game is still there. IQ still matters.”
As Curry points out, normal media coverage starts with watching the games. Not just the highlights of Curry’s 3-pointers or Jokic’s unreal passing. The actual games.
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