Phil Jackson clarifies Stephen Curry/Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf tweet
The Zen Master is damn sick and tired of all you crazy kids twisting his Twitter words out of proportion.
Knicks president Phil Jackson took time on Monday to clarify a tweet he sent out over the weekend that seemingly threw shade at reigning MVP Stephen Curry by comparing him to basketball divinity Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.
Here was Jackson’s original tweet:
Never seen anything like SCurry? Remind you of Chris Jackson/ Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who had a short but brilliant run in NBA?
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) February 28, 2016
Then, after a decent amount of backlash from the greater NBA community as to how he could possibly compare an unstoppable cyborg like Curry to an unspectacular 90s flameout who was playing in Turkey by the age of 29, Jackson decided to set the record straight some 24 hours later:
How does commenting on Rauf mean I'm comparing him to Curry?
Remind, yes, quick release, cross over, Yep, MVP, nope. Get a grip!— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) February 29, 2016
Much better. When put that way, it seems like Jackson was simply drawing attention to the similar styles of play between Curry and Abdul-Rauf: the point guard with a scorer’s mentality who could cook dudes from long-range and get to the rim with ease. Was Abdul-Rauf able to do it anywhere even remotely close to the level where Curry is operating at right now? Heck, no. But perhaps to consider Curry an evolutionary (or maybe a super-evolutionary) version of Abdul-Rauf isn’t all that far off.
Nevertheless, this made for yet another entertaining edition of Phil Jackson’s Twitter Misadventures, and I’m very much looking forward to what kind of treat we’re in for next time around.