Meet the original Steph Curry (Mahmoud Abdul Rauf)

[draftnightsuit]

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Anybody remember when Phil Jackson made this comparison and everyone thought he was crazy?

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Then he was forced to backtrack due to the backlash.

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[WarriorGM]

Abdul Rauf is closer to Damian Lillard.

Phil Jackson's comments comparing him to Steph were a compliment though. Abdul Rauf inflicted one of the more memorable losses the Jordan Bulls suffered during their 72-win season. That's why Phil remembers. It's also evidence that Curry would wreak havoc back in the 90s.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

He is also the original Colin Kaepernick, unfortunately. Not enough attention is given to why he couldn't get another gig in the NBA.

[Lalouie]

say what?

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulma02.html

forced to backtrack? he was probably forced to cover his tracks with dirt as if he never made 'em

[dhsilv2]

He is one of the first guys I can think of who'd just pull up from 3 with meaningful volume from time to time.

[Pennebaker]

Abdul Rauf is closer to Damian Lillard.

Phil Jackson's comments comparing him to Steph were a compliment though. Abdul Rauf inflicted one of the more memorable losses the Jordan Bulls suffered during their 72-win season. That's why Phil remembers. it's also evidence that Curry would wreak havoc back in the 90s.

He didnt look anything like Lillard when he played though. Particularly their shooting motion. Lillard has a slower two motion release while Steph and Abul-Rauf have super-quick releases. And, in general, Abdul-Rauf was more shifty and jittery - more quick-twitch than Lillard.

[monopoman]

Abdul Rauf is closer to Damian Lillard.

Phil Jackson's comments comparing him to Steph were a compliment though. Abdul Rauf inflicted one of the more memorable losses the Jordan Bulls suffered during their 72-win season. That's why Phil remembers. it's also evidence that Curry would wreak havoc back in the 90s.

He didnt look anything like Lillard when he played though. Particularly their shooting motion. Lillard has a slower two motion release while Steph and Abul-Rauf have super-quick releases. And, in general, Abdul-Rauf was more shifty and jittery - more quick-twitch than Lillard.

Lillard has a fairly quick release it might not be as lighting fast as Curry but I have seen him shoot it before a defender realizes it often.

[TJ_Ford_11]

Nowhere near as good as Steph. Guy gets more overrated every year. 35% career three point shooter.

[DetroitPistons]

I don't think anyone is saying he was better than Curry... They are just comparing play styles. That's all.

[cpower]

Abdul Rauf is a 35% three point shooter for his career ...just saying ..J Kid is a 35% for comparison.

[dc]

Besides the fact that Rauf simply was nowhere near as good a shooter as Steph, the other aspect was that he wasn't nearly as good a PG. He didn't make guys around him better. He also wasn't nearly as good

And he wasn't as good as a teammate. I'm sure the religion/anthem/what he experienced growing up stuff had a lot to do with it, but reports were that he wasn't on friendly terms with a lot of his teammates and was distant from them. Curry's quiet leadership and ability to make everyone feel welcome within the organization is the most underrated aspects about him as a franchise player.

As a player, Mike Bibby is a better comparison to Steph. Bibby was very effective playing off the ball, much like Steph.

[Duke4life831]

Im not really seeing the comparison. Abdul Rauf was never even in the top 20 in the league for 3pt attempts, take away a 3 year stretch and he was actually a bad 3pt shooter. Even in his best stretch as a shooter he never reached 40% from 3 and again wasn't even in top 20 in attempts. Curry's 3pt rate for his career is pushing 50% (48%), Abdul Rauf's is 17% with a career high of 32%. Curry is one of the most efficient scorers of all time, Abdul Rauf's career TS% is 50%.

I mean if all it takes is a good handle and be willing to do deep pull up jump shots to say your play style is like Curry, I think you could make the argument that Gilbert Arenas is closer to Curry than Abdul Rauf is. Prime Gilbert was far more efficient than Abdul and had a season where he was 2nd in 3pt attempts. Gilbert wasn't shy about pulling up from deep. But the thing is, Gilbert is closer to Curry than Abdul Rauf, but Gilbert is nothing like Curry.

[TJ_Ford_11]

I don't think anyone is saying he was better than Curry... They are just comparing play styles. That's all.

Then Antoine Walker would be just as good of a comparison. Anyone can chuck a lot of threes and miss.

[Kabookalu]

I'm not seeing it. Rauf is probably one of the first to pull up from 3 out of nowhere with conviction (I'm sure there's others that preceded him but no one comes to mind), but that's all they share. If Coach Nick going to use any point guard in that era to draw a parallel with Curry it should be Mark Price. If there's ever an OG Stephen Curry it's Pete Maravich (if Pistol Pete played the right way and wasn't showboating). I mean this is a man that dropped 68 points in a game without a 3 point line, and as a guard with solid, but not exceptional athleticism.

[Pennebaker]

Abdul Rauf is closer to Damian Lillard.

Phil Jackson's comments comparing him to Steph were a compliment though. Abdul Rauf inflicted one of the more memorable losses the Jordan Bulls suffered during their 72-win season. That's why Phil remembers. it's also evidence that Curry would wreak havoc back in the 90s.

He didnt look anything like Lillard when he played though. Particularly their shooting motion. Lillard has a slower two motion release while Steph and Abul-Rauf have super-quick releases. And, in general, Abdul-Rauf was more shifty and jittery - more quick-twitch than Lillard.

Lillard has a fairly quick release it might not be as lighting fast as Curry but I have seen him shoot it before a defender realizes it often.

It is not quick at all.

[DetroitPistons]

I don't think anyone is saying he was better than Curry... They are just comparing play styles. That's all.

Then Antoine Walker would be just as good of a comparison. Anyone can chuck a lot of threes and miss.

Definitely not... Antoine Walker was a 6'9" forward who spread the floor. He had a completely different play style...

[monopoman]

He didnt look anything like Lillard when he played though. Particularly their shooting motion. Lillard has a slower two motion release while Steph and Abul-Rauf have super-quick releases. And, in general, Abdul-Rauf was more shifty and jittery - more quick-twitch than Lillard.

Lillard has a fairly quick release it might not be as lighting fast as Curry but I have seen him shoot it before a defender realizes it often.

It is not quick at all.

Take it from someone that watches him regularly it's quicker than a good chunk of the league.

[draftnightsuit]

I'm not seeing it. Rauf is probably one of the first to pull up from 3 out of nowhere with conviction (I'm sure there's others that preceded him but no one comes to mind), but that's all they share. If Coach Nick going to use any point guard in that era to draw a parallel with Curry it should be Mark Price. If there's ever an OG Stephen Curry it's Pete Maravich (if Pistol Pete played the right way and wasn't showboating). I mean this is a man that dropped 68 points in a game without a 3 point line, and as a guard with solid, but not exceptional athleticism.

Mark Price is Steve Nash, Pistol Pete is Harden.

[Galloisdaman]

Nowhere near as good as Steph. Guy gets more overrated every year. 35% career three point shooter.

The guy was great in college but never was as good in the pros. He had some nice moments but Curry is a top 20 player all time. Rauf was never even top 20 in any NBA season.

[jehosafats]

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