Gilbert Arenas Take On Steph Curry Lacks Intelligence
In the modern sports media landscape, utilizing hyperbole to get clicks and follows has become commonplace. It would not be unrealistic to hear one of television's talking heads refer to a play or a player as unbelievable, even though what they are referring to is actually quite easy to believe.
A word that has taken over discussions about football or basketball players is "generational". It's usually reserved for young players coming into the league (you can't tune into any draft show without hearing about the generational talent of a player in that draft). The phrase can also be used to refer to a veteran in the right circumstance.
Gilbert Arenas VS Steph Curry
On a recent episode of Gil's Arena, the former NBA All-Star was quick to dismiss Warriors point guard Steph Curry and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as generational talents. "Steph is not a generational talent," he said. "Victor Wembenyama is a generational person who is a generational talent. Generational means you can't mimic it. Can you mimic Magic Johnson, a 6'9 point guard with the vision? No. You can't mimic Shaquille O'Neal's body. You can't mimic LeBron James."
He followed that by saying, "Nikola Jokic is not a generational talent, he's just a great basketball player. Curry is a great basketball player."
The truth of the matter is Gilbert Arenas is wrong on two fronts. First of all, the term "generational" does not mean impossible to mimic. It means once in a generation. Maybe his lack of vocabulary knowledge is due to the fact, that according to him, he had a 0.2 GPA in college, attending just one class in two years. He proudly wears the fact that his college major was basketball as a badge of honor.
Arenas is also wrong because we have never seen a player in NBA history play like Curry. His ball handling is among the best in the league (and this is a league that dribbles way too much), and his three-point marksmanship is unmatched. The way he shoots off the dribble, in particular, is beyond what has been seen before. It's completely fair to refer to a once-in-a-lifetime player as generational.
It would be a waste to offer Gilbert a dictionary because he probably would need somebody to read it to him. He can believe all he wants that to be tagged as generational requires a player to possess god-given size and athleticism, but a player's skill must be considered. Any player who changes the way an entire league plays the game is generational, and that's exactly what Steph Curry did.
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