Hall of Famer Archibald an unabashed Curry backer

Legendary guard who once led the NBA in assists and points in a single season has vast admiration for Golden State's star

 POSTED: Apr 1, 2016 7:41 PM ET

 

Nate "Tiny"Archibald, who rocked the NBA more than four decades ago as a little man dominating a big man's league, had been asked about Stephen Curry, the little man currently dominating what's becoming less and less a big man's league. He was just revving up in his answer when he dropped this:

"So I went to the White House a couple weeks ago and I was talking to [former Maryland coach] Gary Williams, who coached against Curry when Curry was at Davidson, OK?" Archibald said Thursday. "And he said he had guys on his team at that time who handled the ball a little better than [Curry]. Curry was always a great shooter, but now what he's done, he has worked on his ball-handling skills. He has perfected it. His dad [Dell] was a great shooter but his dad couldn't handle the ball, and he didn't need to playing with Muggsy [Bogues] ..."
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back this up a second, Tiny. Did you say White House?

I love watching him play. He has galvanized a different persona with these young people. ... I'm around kids all the time and they get the ball, 'Oh, Steph Curry!' Don't talk about nobody else.

– Nate Archibald, on Stephen Curry

"Yeah, they're working on a commemorative coin for the Hall of Fame," said Archibald, 67. "A good friend of mine when he was in Delaware [Vice President Joe Biden], he was there. I was hoping to see the President but he was busy someplace else.
"I'm just trying to help out and move things. Just trying to be positive and be visible out there. But Steph is the man. Steph is the man."
Right there, though, that tells you a lot about Archibald, who was the man not unlike the Golden State Warriors' sharpshooter but who also does not dwell in the past.
A member of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for a quarter century already, Archibald strung together five stellar seasons for the Cincinnati/Kansas City franchise (now in Sacramento) from 1971-76. He averaged 27.3 points and 8.7 assists as a 6-foot-1, 150-pound one-man wrecking crew for the Kings, earning three All-Star appearances and three first-team all-NBA berths in that run. And, in 1972-73, was responsible for one of the league's most incredible individual seasons ever, becoming the only man to lead the NBA in scoring and in assists in the same year.

Since ending his 14-year playing career in 1984, Archibald has spent most of his public time working with youngsters -- grade school, high school and college -- in and near his roots in the South Bronx of New York. He teaches them the game, he stresses the importance of education and he backs it up himself with his three degrees (his bachelor's from Texas-El Paso and a master's and professional degree from Fordham).

Curry's 'golden shot' something to behold

Archibald is all about now. It's like pulling teeth to get him to talk about yesteryear because he's so busy doing what he can to help young players snag a better tomorrow.
"I played against some of the best players in the world," Archibald told NBA.com in a phone interview. "I was in a dream world. I played against Oscar Robertson, Walt Frazier. I played against Jerry West and Earl Monroe. That was then.
"I interact with more kids than probably anybody else in the league," he added. "Doing my leagues, clinics, camps and stuff. I see so much potential in these kids. And Steph's jersey, like Iverson's jersey, is the hottest thing -- it's steamin'! He is -- and this is a 007 movie -- 'The Man With The Golden Shot.' "

But I tell people, you can't put him back [in the 1970s] and you can't move them ['70s stars] up. Different eras of basketball.

– Hall of Famer Nate Archibald, on Stephen Curry

Contrast that to some comments last month from Robertson, the always-candid NBA legend. When prompted in an ESPN radio interview, Robertson said that as good as Curry is, he benefits from poor strategy by opposing coaches.
"[Curry] has shot well because of what's going on in basketball today," Robertson said. "There have been some great shooters in the past. ... But here again, when I played ... if you shot outside and hit it, the next time I'm going to be up on top of you. I'm going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now they don't do that. These coaches do not understand the game of basketball, as far as I'm concerned."
It wasn't the all-in, back-in-my-day rant some made it out to be but it did question the validity of Curry's MVP-caliber dominance here in 2015-16. So did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he at least concurred with his old teammate Robertson that the physical play back in the 1970s and '80s would make it "difficult to make jump shots from that far out."
Archibald, who actually can speak with authority about what it would be like for someone close to Curry's build to play amongst the old-schoolers, wouldn't really go there.
"Oh, he'd have got a whipping," Archibald told NBA.com. "But I tell people, you can't put him back [in the 1970s] and you can't move them ['70s stars] up. Different eras of basketball. Certain rules change the game. The rules now is, they want the game to move. And it's not just to his benefit, it's to everybody's benefit."