Considering the fairly lopsided result through the first two games of these NBA Finals, basketball geeks are grasping at straws for talking points. Where does LeBron James stand now compared to Michael Jordan in the debate of “greatest of all time”? What will it mean for Russell Westbrook if Kevin Durant finally wins a title without him? Blah, blah, blah. And of course, we’re getting a reprise of “Old Bulls vs Current Warriors” after last season’s Golden State team went 73-9, breaking the 72-10 record set by the ’95-96 champion Bulls.
The Warriors choked away a 3-1 lead, and that debate ended rather quickly. “72-10 don’t mean a thing without the ring,” as those Bulls said entering the 1996 playoffs. That argument still holds, and that Bulls team is still widely regarded as the single greatest team ever in NBA history.
This year, with the Warriors’ dominant 14-0 start to the playoffs and two blowout victories over LeBron’s Cavaliers to start the Finals, people want to talk about how this Warriors team stacks up against the rosters of that Bulls dynasty.
B.J. Weighs In
One member of the first leg of that dynasty, B.J. Armstrong, just gave his two cents on the subject while doing an interview with CBS Sports Radio. No allegiances to his former championship glory days appeared. B.J. sounds like he’d put his money on the Warriors.
“I’ll be very clear: I don’t think that that Bulls team could play in this era. I really don’t … but I will say that [Golden State] provides a lot of problems to defend, and I don’t think those teams in the ’90s had seen someone play like this … The X-factor is clearly Jordan, but Jordan was shooting 2s, those guys are shooting 3s, and by my count, three is more than two.” – B.J. Armstrong
Armstrong repeatedly put emphasis on the different styles of play in the ’90s and now. And he did say he didn’t think these Warriors could play in the ’90s, either. But putting those Bulls in today’s NBA would mean facing defensive tasks against the Warriors they never dealt with during their reign. There’s definitely truth to that.
B.J. continued, breaking down individual matchups on the floor:
Jordan vs Klay
“Jordan is going to be Jordan in any area you put him in, but he’s going to be occupied guarding Klay Thompson. Jordan is going to have to stay at home and not wander around defensively against Klay Thompson because Klay Thompson is an explosive scorer and he’s a catch-and-shoot guy, which is one of the hardest, more difficult guards because he’s constantly in motion.” – B.J. Armstrong
I’m sorry, B.J., but that’s downright insulting. To say Jordan would have a hard time guarding Klay Thompson? Klay can score, and he’s a great shooter. But Jordan was a perennial defensive player of the year candidate. He guarded Gary Payton, Reggie Miller, Penny Hardaway, John Stockton and Isaiah Thomas, to name a few. You think Klay is harder to guard than all of those guys? Gimme a break.
Pippen vs KD
“If you put Scottie Pippen [on] Kevin Durant, I like that matchup. I don’t think that is a matchup Scottie can just dominate Kevin Durant because Kevin Durant is 7-foot over there.” – B.J. Armstrong
Armstrong is right, Durant is one of the toughest guys to guard in the league today because of his insane combination of size and athleticism. But if there’s a short list of NBA players who have or had the combination of length and defensive skills to make Durant uncomfortable, Pippen is on that list.
B.J. or Harper vs Steph
“Steph Curry against Ron Harper or myself or any other guard that was playing with the Bulls – no one’s figured out how to guard him now. Why all of a sudden am I going to figure it out? Or anyone else? I think that is a tough matchup.” – B.J. Armstrong
No argument there. Harper was an excellent defender, but Steph is virtually unguardable when he’s on.
Bigs
“You got Draymond Green and Dennis Rodman or Draymond Green and Horace Grant. I like that matchup. I like it. And then you got Luc Longley and [Zaza] Pachulia or Luc Longley versus an athletic JaVale McGee. I don’t see that as just a dominant matchup for anyone.” – B.J. Armstrong
Armstrong appears to be on the fence for which team has the edge in the frontcourt. But based on his assumptions that a) Jordan would struggle to guard Thompson, b) Pippen couldn’t contain Durant and c) nobody could guard Curry, B.J. is leaning towards the Warriors.
…Not sure I agree. But that’s part of what makes these inter-generational NBA debates so great. We’ll never know (until time machines are real) who would win these matchups. But we can give our takes and counterarguments until those time traveling days arrive.
Let the debate rage on. Who you got? ’17 Warriors or ’96 Bulls?
