Bob Cousy claps back at JJ Redick

[MrBigShot]

Meh all Cousy did was name the best players in his era, not the average ones. Still, players back then did not have the same infrastructure and resources that players today have. So there's no reason to expect very talented players from waaay back in the day would still be dribbling with one hand and stuff like that. You respect the people that laid the foundation.

[PizzaSteve]

if one is not the best of their generation, try to claim being bettor than prior generations. Its an age old story, as human knowledge is accumulative and folks like to pretend they invented stuff they learned from coaches or prior innovators. it happened in my career as well.

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

JJ definitely turning into a clown. So disrespectful to the people who paved the way for his ass. He’s doing a lot more hot takes on EPSN now. I think him hanging around First Take is having an effect on him.

Being hired by ESPN, is it really surprising he becomes a hot take generator?

[rickxdel]

Before slandering JJ can we recognize the context where he said this? He made that comment in reaction to the slander Mad Dog Russo was throwing on Chris Paul. Context is pretty important here and it's obvious Mad Dog is extremely biased towards previous gen players.

I'm not even a CP3 fan but Mad Dog said he wouldn't be a top 5 PG ever even if he won a championship, then went on to say Bob Cousy is undoubtedly better than him, like c'mon

Watch on YouTube

[Curmudgeon]

You couldn't palm the ball in the 50's. That's the biggest change in the game. It affects every play. Also, there was no such thing as a flagrant foul. A player like Walter Dukes would break your ribs if given the chance. Every team had its enforcer: Loscutoff, Rudy LaRusso, etc. etc.

[50yrceltsfan]

Like here's another gem from this clown:

"Honestly like Kevin Love is better than probably 99% of the power forwards that made that list. That’s a fact”.

Ok, here are the PFs I see on the list:

Charles Barkley
Karl Malone
Dolph Schayes
Kevin McHale
Dennis Rodman
Elvin Hays
Bob Pettit
Jerry Lucas
Dave Debusschere
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett

Sure, he might be better than Pettit or Debusschere or Schayes or a few others, but if he thinks he's better than Barkley/Malone/Duncan/Garnett/Rodman, I don't know what to say. Because he can hit 3s better?

Trust me, Love wasn't better than Barkley, Malone, McHale, Hayes, Pettit, Duncan or Garnett. He's about the same as Debusschere and Lucas, and a little better than Schayes. Rodman was just different, couldn't shoot but more impactful than Love.

[50yrceltsfan]

Cousy was a great assist man, and one of the first fast break guards, a 6' version of Magic or Pistol Pete, very creative, no look passes, behind the back stuff. He was built low with long arms and huge hands. He was tough, but his build would limit him today. However, there were a lot of guys in his era that were every bit the size and athletic ability as today's top tier.

[Fencer reregistered]

Read on Twitter

Nothing too substantive. Funny stuff.

By the way, he lists Robertson and West as "a pair of point guards".

Also, he think Elgin Baylor was the best SF ever to play the game.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Some people just have zero respect for the older generation of players.

[jokeboy86]

Before slandering JJ can we recognize the context where he said this? He made that comment in reaction to the slander Mad Dog Russo was throwing on Chris Paul. Context is pretty important here and it's obvious Mad Dog is extremely biased towards previous gen players.

I'm not even a CP3 fan but Mad Dog said he wouldn't be a top 5 PG ever even if he won a championship, then went on to say Bob Cousy is undoubtedly better than him, like c'mon

Watch on YouTube

I will admit Mad Dog knew his stuff(though CP3 was 1st team all-nba a couple of times) and he wasn't just shouting at JJ unlike SAS. But I have to go with Mad Dog cause even if Paul wins a ring you can't put him over Cousy when you're comparing accolades.

[BoatsNZones]

One thing I learned throughout my life, the reason we have more tools and resources today is because of the someone built the foundation from yesterday. So yes, a Bugatti is going to run faster, stronger than the 1st car ever made, but without someone making that first car, there would be no Bugatti.

Us, in present tense, needs to learn from the past and innovate for the future; while the past needs to adapt in present times and continue building for the future.

Rookie Jordan came into the game 40 years ago and would instantly be an MVP candidate + THE most athletic player in the current NBA. Food for thought. Same for Wilt and he played 80 years ago.

[PizzaSteve]

Duplicate thread.

[Big J]

Hell yea. Cousy is an all time great, and Redick is relative nobody in the grand scheme of things. I can’t believe he slandered a 93 year old man. What a loser.

[Pachinko_]

yeah there's a thread about that too

[Loaded_Hollows]

I had no idea Bob Cousy was still alive

[ElectricMayhem]

yeah there's a thread about that too

Back when that thread was made, only plumbers and firemen made threads. This one is much more respectable.

[Parasite]

Bunch of people that weren't around when Cousy played taking his side to be edgy and sound historical. JJ wouldn't make the nba back then? Foh

JJ didn’t exist back then, so no he wouldn’t make the NBA. It takes a special kind of d-bag to talk down on people who made it possible for you to make a living putting a round ball through a hoop.

[Sgt Major]

I couldn't believe Reddick said that. I like his podcast, his takes I've heard so far were all good and I haven't actually seen a video of him talking about old timers being plumbers, so this was quite a surprise.

I guess hanging out on ESPN with Stephen A Smith makes you talk nonsense.

[nfmos]

I was ready to go at Reddick for disrespecting the past too, but i was surprised because he always seems pretty level headed. But then i watched the clip that someone posted above and it makes so much more sense in context. The only reason he said those things was because the idiot Russo was acting like Cousy was on a much higher level than CP3 and the way he was comparing them was disrespectful to CP3. Trust me, i haaate CP3, but to act like Cousy was on a level CP3 is completely disregards the advantages Cousy had in his era including being on such a great team, having less teams to compete against, and shorter playoff series.

I think there is too disrespect in general toward players in the past, but there is just as much disrespect from some old heads toward the new generations.

I cant understand how people like Russo, hes like a damn cartoon character.

[queridiculo]

Before slandering JJ can we recognize the context where he said this? He made that comment in reaction to the slander Mad Dog Russo was throwing on Chris Paul. Context is pretty important here and it's obvious Mad Dog is extremely biased towards previous gen players.

I'm not even a CP3 fan but Mad Dog said he wouldn't be a top 5 PG ever even if he won a championship, then went on to say Bob Cousy is undoubtedly better than him, like c'mon

Watch on YouTube

Well, since we're on the subject of context and if we're going to frame it on the subject of greatness, JJ Redick is the proverbial fireman or plumber of his era.

A career scrub whose arrogance has always outpaced his talent level.

You can't compare players across era's and as absurd as Russo's take on Cousy vs. Paul is, Reddick is equally absurd with the suggestion that a championship is what would put Paul in the conversation as the greatest ever.