Stephen A. Smith’s comments of past era ‘hurting’ Steph Curry has former players and celebrities questioning their talent

NBA eras debate over the past vs present saw Stephen A. Smith bring up disrespectful comments about Steph Curry.

Stephen A. Smith’s comments of past era ‘hurting’ Steph Curry has former players and celebrities questioning their talent

Stephen A. Smith brought up a former players diss at Steph Curry in past vs present debate

The debate over whether past or present NBA players are better has been a hot topic for years. This discourse took a step further when LeBron James criticized the likes of Stephen A. Smith and other veteran media members for constantly using the past era to diminish the current generation.

That discourse saw the ESPN analyst go on a tirade calling James hypocritical for ducking criticism. At the same time, Gilbert Arenas pointed out that the media have played a hand in constantly shifting the goal posts whenever they talk about current players.

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Most of the times, the most vocal point in that debate has been how physical the game was in the past. Shaquille O’Neal mentioned yesterday that he would have dominated three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. This caused a furor among many who believe the Serbian’s skills are far beyond what O’Neal’s physicality would cover.

This skill vs physicality debate took another angle when Draymond Green suggested that past greats use that physicality talk to discredit current players, which he believes is disrespectful. When this topic reached First Take, Stephen A. Smith said this.

I had a Hall of Famer come up to me and said to me, ‘Steph Curry would not have averaged more than 17 points a game. In our era, we would’ve hurt him’.

Stephen A. Smith said

The 57-year-old analyst did say that the Hall of Famer’s words were a bit too much. However, it brought the idea to him that the past era had to deal with physicality in a way current players do not have to. That itself makes their game way more difficult than it is now.

Former stars question basketball skills of the past

Stephen A. Smith’s words soon reached the eyes and ears of several people. Fans were livid as to the comparisons and constant talk of physicality as a defining tool. Former player Lou Williams took it a step further and questioned if physicality is indeed a talent.

Mark price did just fine. Stockton just fine. But Steph?!?! lol. That’s what I hate about the old days talk. Fouling and hacking ain’t a skill. Shit actually almost killed the NBA

Lou Williams wrote

The three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year questioned if fouling and hacking was even a skill. Considering how it had an impact on the league and its popularity, he believes leaning on those grounds is pointless. He also believes that if Mark Price and John Stockton could excel in those times, so could Steph Curry.

Another former player Greg Anthony asked if the likes of Stephen A. Smith had watched a full NBA game from the past eras. He believes Steph Curry would be an even better player in those eras, especially with the way they played back then.

Comedian brings a music reference to the eras debate

Stephen A. Smith’s colleague Molly Qerim pointed out that no other sport has been affected more ever since this past vs present topic started. Comedian Spank Horton brought up a music reference to make a point about how different generations view different eras.

I disagree that one statement would not end it lol We do it with music as well my grandparents/parents hated the new music lol.

Spank Horton wrote

Spank Horton has a point here as many older generation people harp back to the music from their era. At the same time, they go to the extent of diminishing the current era. He believes this problem is not just in sports and shows how people view things differently.

Even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he ‘cringes’ whenever this past vs present debate comes up. He knows that the NBA faces the brunt of this discourse more than any other sport in the world and hopes this could change.