As if it didn’t hurt enough for the Golden State Warriors to lose the 2019 NBA Championship to the Toronto Raptors, now they’re getting dragged by former Chicago Bulls legend Dennis Rodman, 58. The five time NBA champ stopped by ESPN’s First Take on June 21 and had some choice words when asked to compare the 1995-1996 Bulls squad — considered to be the finest in NBA history — to the 2017-18 Warriors, who took home their third NBA Championship in four years.
“Kevin Durant would have a hard time with Scottie Pippen. And I don’t know who would guard Michael Jordan on the Warriors. Literally, who?” he questioned. Then he totally trolled Draymond Green, 29, not even calling the power forward by his full name initially. “I got no problem handling that Green guy,” Dennis confidently proclaimed. “He’d be eating out of my hands. Draymond, keep getting your teeth straight, honey, and listen to your mama.” Brutal!
The Worm did admit that Draymond is a “great defender” before adding “He’d be eating out of my hands. But Draymond must have taken a page out of my book back in the day. He’s a great player though. A great player.” Draymond’s coach and Dennis former teammate Steve Kerr, 53, actually compared the two players’ skills after a Western Conference finals game on May 18.
“I think the comparison is apt, because what made Dennis special was his versatility,” Steve said. “In the ’96 East finals, he guarded Shaq and then switched out to guard Penny Hardaway. There aren’t many players in the history of the game who can do both. That’s what Draymond does…he can guard any position against any team.”
“Draymond is a better offensive player,” Steve continued. “Dennis was better than people knew, but Draymond has become a tremendous playmaker. He’s our leading assists guy, he pushes the pace, he handles the ball, he’s a better two-way player. But he’s not as good of a rebounder. I’ll give that to Dennis. I never met anyone who was as good a rebounder as Dennis.”