Former NBA players dropping “back in my day” rants about how the Golden State Warriors’ historic 73-win season wouldn’t compare to their own eras has been a recurring thread all year, with TNT’s Charles Barkley leading the charge, but we got to hear it from three of them on one edition of The Dan Patrick Show Wednesday. First, here’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar responding to Klay Thompson’s claim that the Warriors could beat the Showtime Lakers:
Next, how about Shaq saying the Warriors couldn’t beat his Lakers?
And, of course, how about Barkley saying he doesn’t think the Warriors can’t beat most of the great teams?
Barkley does try to pass this off as something else, saying “It ain’t old guys hating on young guys, they almost lost to Oklahoma City!” Right, because the Jordan Bulls and Showtime Lakers never lost. Of course, these era-on-era debates have no real resolution, especially considering how much the game has changed over the years, but there does seem to be a lot of self-interest from these guys in maintaining their relevance by insisting their eras were better. No matter what the Warriors do, it will be hard to change the minds of ex-players who don’t think they’re all that great.
The Dan Patrick Show airs on AT&T’s Audience Sports, NBCSN and radio affiliates from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern Monday through Friday.
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About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.