"How are you going to leave out, like, Larry Bird?" Gilbert Arenas refuses to put players from before the '90s in his all-time NBA top-10 players' list
Gilbert Arenas is known for his bold statements and recently delivered a harsh take on Giannis Antetokounmpo's game. Arenas seems to have stirred another controversy by refusing to include any pre-1990s NBA player in his all-time top 10 list. This happened when he proclaimed that he would definitely rank Steph Curry in the all-time top 10.
Arenas' views came while he was being interviewed on the VladTV YouTube channel. When asked where he would rank Curry on his all-time list, Gilbert Arenas replied:
"Without even just diving into my list, I'm going to just go and say, he's [Curry] going to be top-10. Somehow I'm going to put him in the top-10, knowing what I know. Knowing his work ethic, knowing his height, knowing what he does, the excitement, being a guard ... I'm going to put him in the top-10."
Arenas then went on to elaborate on why he would not include anyone who came before the 1990s on his all-time list. His rationale was:
"We're trying to compare his [Curry] style to a style that is dinosaurish, you know what I mean? So when someone is like, well, how are you going to leave out, like Larry Bird? Easy, easy, easy, like I can do that easy."
Arenas continued:
"I can look at his stats and look at his stats and then go there not realizing, well the game is so much faster, meaning when they [pre-1990] were scoring 86, 96, these guys [Curry's era] are scoring 100, 120, 140, so they're gonna get more attempts than you.
"So their numbers are going to be higher than yours. Theirs is going to be inflated because they're moving faster. They're not sitting there pounding the ball in. So it's hard to really gauge, you know. So I say, you know I can only go off of from '90 up. Anybody before the '90s, I can't - I don't - put them in my top 10."
When asked if this meant that he also wouldn't include Bill Russell also in his top-10 list because of this criteria, Gilbert Arenas replied:
"No."
Gilbert Arenas ranking Steph Curry top-10 all-time should not be surprising
A former 3-time All-Star, Gilbert Arenas' views on Steph Curry being an all-time top-10 player isn't surprising. After winning three NBA titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018, Curry won his fourth when the Golden State Warriors bested the Boston Celtics 4-2 in June.
Curry finished the Finals with averages of 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game on 43.7% 3-point shooting. He took home the first ever Finals MVP award of his career.
Curry is an eight-time All-Star. He is also the NBA's all-time leading t3-point scorer in the regular season and the playoffs. A two-time league MVP, Curry has also been named to the NBA's 75th anniversary team.