Sometimes the New Media can look and sound an awful lot like the Old Media, as we learned on Sunday night when Draymond Green couldn’t help but fire off a take about how the 2017 Warriors would’ve beaten the 1998 Bulls if they met on the court.
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
While Green was trying to mostly make the point that comparing eras is impossible because the styles of play are so different, he did so in a way that mainly served to rile people up and spark the debate that he has so often decried — it’s also the inverse of old players insisting current players couldn’t hang in their era, which Green has also hated. There were plenty who weighed in on Green’s assertion, but the best response came from Kevin Durant, who was on that ’17 Warriors squad.
KD had no interest in trying to assert who would win a series, but he did have some fun imagining Steve Kerr coaching against Steve Kerr the player, because coach Kerr would absolutely have Golden State target player Kerr on defense every single time down the floor.
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
This is the kind of thinking about cross-era matchups that I’m interested in. It’s like a Gemini Man sequel but instead of Will Smith fighting young Will Smith it’s Steve Kerr coaching against young Steve Kerr and trying to absolutely bury him in screen action.