- Stephen Curry is one of the greatest players in NBA history
- Charles Barkley thinks it could get ugly for Curry if he played against the ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons
- The Pistons roughed up their opponents and Barkley doesn’t think Curry’s body would be able to handle the beating
Charles Barkley believes Stephen Curry would have had a rough time had he gone up against the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons from the 1980s. While on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Barkley stated Curry would “break” if he played against them.
“As much as I love Steph Curry,” Barkley said. “If you think that he could take those blows that John Salley, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, those body checks that they were putting in Michael (Jordan) and Scottie (Pippen), and myself and guys like that. You really think Steph Curry wouldn’t break?”
(starts at 0:47 mark):
Curry has bulked up now and is actually pretty strong, but that wasn’t always the case.
He had a very slender frame when he came into the league and dealt with major injury issues earlier on, especially with his ankles. You better believe had he gone up against the Pistons from back then, they’d have targeted his ankles.
They could have physically just beaten him up to the point, where Curry’s body just couldn’t take it anymore. He isn’t built like Michael Jordan was, to take that pounding again and again.
It is important to note here, that Barkley isn’t saying Curry wouldn’t be any good in that era. He is just saying the rules back then would have allowed teams to keep hitting the nine-time All-Star to the point that his body would break down.
Isiah Thomas Thinks Curry Wouldn’t Average More Than 18 Points In His Era
For his career, Curry has averaged 24.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. Had the 35-year-old played in the 1980s, though, then he wouldn’t have put up those scoring numbers, as per Isiah Thomas.
Stephen A. Smith said that Thomas told him Curry wouldn’t average more than 18 points in his era. Isiah pointed to the rules allowing them to be physical with the two-time MVP, which in turn, would mean Curry wouldn’t be able to run around as much.
Great players would figure out a way to dominate in any era. I think Curry would have as well, but the issue would have been that he just wouldn’t have been able to stay healthy for too long.
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