UPDATE: 12/29/2015
Stephen Curry got his sixth career triple-double in the Warriors win against the Sacramento Kings last night. It is his first triple-double of the 2015-16 season.
Former Warriors Head Coach Mark Jackson Says Steph Curry is “Hurting the Game”
Anyone watching the Golden State Warriors outlast the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-83 at home on Christmas Day received an extra gift. What a game. Nothing better than an NBA Finals rematches on Christmas. That should be a mandatory matchup.
For as good as the game was, however, all talk is on Mark Jackson’s comment mid-game on Stephen Curry and his overall impact on the game of basketball.
“Steph Curry’s great,” began Mark Jackson, who coached the Warriors for three seasons until being fired before the 2014-2015 campaign. “Steph Curry’s the MVP. He’s a champion. Understand what I’m saying when I say this: To a degree, he’s hurting the game. And what I mean by that is that I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids, and the first thing they do is they run to the three-point line.
“You are not Steph Curry. Work on the other aspects of the game. People think that he’s just a knock-down shooter.”
Oh boy. That explosion you heard in the background was Twitter as everyone had to put their opinion on the table. And boy did they. I heard everything from “Jackson’s just jealous the team is better without him” to “He’s kinda right.”
And, whether you like it or not, he does have a point. Shooting, though an important part of the game, shouldn’t be the focus. Curry makes it look easy, but it’s not. At all. Not everyone can do it. Very few people can, honestly. And Curry himself understands that.
“I have to talk to him,” said Curry after the game. “I don’t know what he means by that. If you can shoot, shoot. If you can’t, stop.”
Solid advice from the reigning MVP.
Center Andrew Bogut was quick to defend his point guard and had no problem burning bridges with his former head coach in the process.
“Anything he says, you can take that with a grain of salt,” said Bogut when asked his opinion on the comments. “And you can quote me on that.”
Personally, I don’t think Jackson is too far off base with his statements; however, he could have definitely worded them a little better.