NBA Legend Scottie Pippen's Honest Steph Curry Statement

In the 2015-16 season, the Golden State Warriors claimed the title as the best regular-season team in NBA history, hoisting a record-breaking 73-9 record. This Warriors team was led by a star trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, breaking the record set by a legendary Chicago Bulls team that featured Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman.

The 1995-96 Bulls had a 72-10 record, ultimately winning the NBA Finals to complete their historic season. There is a common debate about which team is better between these legendary Warriors and Bulls squads, but someone with first-hand experience chimed in on the argument.

Scottie Pippen shares his take

Pick a starting 5:

'96 Bulls
MJ (MVP, FMVP, All-Star, All-NBA, All-Def)
Pippen (All-Star, All-NBA, All-Def)
Rodman (All-Def)
Longley
Harper

'17 Warriors
Steph (All-Star, All-NBA)
KD (FMVP, All-Star, All-NBA)
Klay (All-Star)
Dray (DPOY, All-Star, All-NBA, All-Def)
Zaza pic.twitter.com/3F3FnU5a6Q
— StatMuse (@statmuse) July 26, 2024

In a recent interview with MARCA, Pippen was asked who would win between his 1995-96 Bulls team and the 2016-17 Warriors, and harshly admitted that Steph Curry would not have been the same superstar in his era.

"It depends on the rules. If you play by today's rules, it would be one thing. But with the rules of the '90s, Curry wouldn't be the same. If we played in his era, it would be like playing freely: no one holds you, no one stops you. I don't know who would win," Pippen answered.

"We weren't built to shoot 25-50 three-pointers per game. They would probably win that way because they have two of the best shooters in Steph and Klay. But we played physical, we defended hard. We made teams score only 75-80 points. Today, that's almost impossible."

Dec 15, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) greet each other after the game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Prior to that question, Pippen claimed that his 1995-96 Bulls team is the greatest team of all time "on paper," but thinks that the Warriors would win this hypothetical matchup because of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson's shooting ability.

Of course, many of Pippen's era of players would agree with him about the physicality, and him saying that Curry would not be the same back then. The game was much different, and Curry likely would not have been able to get off 10-12 three-pointers per game.

Still, that 2016-17 Warriors team, led by the future Hall of Fame point guard, is the most dominant regular-season NBA team in the common era despite ultimately losing in the Finals. Fans will never know who would win a matchup between the two powerhouses, but it keeps it alive for a good debate.

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Scottie Pippen shares his take

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