Listen to Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charles Barkley, Gary Payton and more talk about the “soft” state of today’s game, and it’s really no surprise that George “The Iceman” Gervin thinks that he would hold his own against Kevin Durant.
While on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Gervin said, “Some people say, ‘Ice, Durant would eat you up.’ Man, no he wouldn’t!”
The Iceman, who shot 51 percent and scored over 26,000 points in his career, pointed out, “[Players today] shoot a lot to get 30 (points). I shot 15 times to get 30.”
"These guys need 30 shots to score 30 points, I needed 15 shots to do that." -George Gervin on the current @NBA players
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 25, 2016
The Iceman was a heck of a scorer during a time when the three-point shot was seldom used. Per 100 possessions, Gervin is the only non-big man since 1973 to average 34 points and shoot less than 1 three-point attempt for his career.
The Iceman briefly compared his game to Giannis Antetokounmpo, but quickly pointed out the Greek Freak’s shooting inefficiencies:
"I look at the Greek Freak and he can do some of the things I did. He can't shoot though, that's his fault." -George Gervin on Giannis
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 25, 2016
Chances are you’ll brush off the Iceman’s comments as just another legend big-upping his talents and his era. But one thing is undisputed: The man had the greatest finger roll of all time.
