Comparing different eras of NBA basketball is impossible, yet we do it anyway.
Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen was asked who would win between his 1995-96 Bulls team and the 2016-17 Warriors, and Pippen didn’t hold back his thoughts on Golden State star Steph Curry.
“It depends on the rules,” Pippen said in a recent interview with MARCA (h/t Golden State Warriors on SI.com). “If you play by today’s rules, it would be one thing. But with the rules of the ’90s, Curry wouldn’t be the same. If we played in his era, it would be like playing freely: no one holds you, no one stops you. I don’t know who would win.”
Pippen’s take on the subject could be personal. In the 2016-17 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors surpassed the 1995-96 Bulls for the best regular-season record in NBA history, achieving a 73-9 mark.
“We weren’t built to shoot 25-50 3-pointers per game,” Pippen continued. “They would probably win that way because they have two of the best shooters in Steph and Klay [Thompson]. But we played physical. We defended hard. We made teams score only 75-80 points. Today, that’s almost impossible.”
The game was much different in the 1990s compared to now, but the numbers still don’t lie. Curry averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 79 games in 2016-17. Michael Jordan averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 82 games in 1995-96. Pippen’s numbers were never close to either Curry’s or Jordan’s.
Pippen claimed that his 1995-96 Bulls team is the greatest team of all time “on paper,” but thinks that the Warriors would win in a hypothetical matchup because of their shooting ability.
When comparing the two squads, the only argument Chicago has is that they have the ring to show for their regular-season efforts. Golden State lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games, giving Lebron James his third championship.
Fans will never know who would win between these two super teams, but the debate will continue for decades.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
Read the full article here