It is literally impossible to tell the history of the NBA without mentioning players such as Michael Jordan and Steph Curry.
Jordan is widely considered to be the greatest player in the history of basketball, while Curry is considered the greatest shooter in the history of basketball.
On Wednesday’s episode of “First Take,” analysts Stephen A. Smith, Chris Russo and Amar’e Stoudemire discussed today’s NBA and how players such as Curry and Jordan played an impact on the game.
“People said he (Curry) changed the game,” Smith said. “No, no, he elevated it to a point where it was acceptable because you’re looking for somebody to produce close in the vicinity to what he does and what Klay Thompson does to a slightly lesser degree.
Smith argues that the game of basketball was a team-centered game before Jordan arrived on the scene and that his superstardom elevated the NBA to the single-star-marketed game it is today.
“My brother, the guy that I love so much, that I believe is the greatest player to have ever played. Michael Jordan is responsible as much as anybody for changing the game for the worse. This is throwing no shade on Michael Jordan of course, he’s the greatest ever … but he was so phenomenal that the NBA marketed the individual, the audience gravitated towards the individual and the game became a bit more individualized. Because people wanted to ‘Be Like Mike.’ Before Mike, you have [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson].”
“What I’m saying is you were thinking team until Jordan elevated it to another level,” Smith added. “Then from Jordan, you had the Kobe [Bryant]’s, the Vince Carter’s and others that came along thereafter and the individualization of the sport, particularly because of the money that came with it became more of a focal point. So I would tell you, Mike D’Antoni, in terms of the 3-point shooting and maintaining the pace and letting people score so you don’t disrupt the pace and then Jordan with the individuality, even though he obviously was a team player and the Chicago Bulls were a great team. The marketing of the individual, those two components is what made the game what it is today.”
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As expected, social media hated everything he said about the great one:
