Welcome to the NBA offseason, the peak time of year for arguing wild hypotheticals.
Draymond Green started this one, throwing gasoline on a debate that smoldered during the peak Warriors years — how would they fare against the peak Chicago Bulls. Do I really need to tell you what Green thinks?
I’m watching the 98 Bulls vs Utah in the Finals… I can’t help but notice our 2017 team would’ve beaten these Bulls by a dub and these Jazz by 40 if they’re going to play these brands of basketball. And that’s why it’s dumb to compare Era’s
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) July 25, 2022
I would inject one question into the 1998 Bulls vs. 2017 Warriors debate: Which set of rules are we using? Both of these teams were the peak of roster building to exploit the rules of the era. Are we using 1998 rules where defenses have to be man-to-man and a lot more contact was allowed both on the ball handler and with players cutting off the ball — it was more of a grinding game. Jordan thrived in that setting and even peak Green isn’t slowing him. Or, are we playing the 2017 rules and enforcement, with zone defenses and no contact allowed on ball handlers on the perimeter, where the 3-pointer takes prominence because of the floor spacing it provides. Stephen Curry’s ball handling and shooting would warp the Bulls’ defense the way it does every other team’s, and Kevin Durant would rack up buckets in any era.
Speaking of Durant, he had the best response to Green’s Tweet.
I can’t tell you what the results would be, but I do know that steve kerr would’ve demanded that we put steve kerr in as many pick and rolls as possible https://t.co/PxeBdsCt3F
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 25, 2022
That is spot on.
