Robertson earned right to criticize today's NBA

When it comes to Chicago sports, we love living in the past.

The '85 Bears are still household names. The Michael Jordan-era Bulls remain heroes.

So it was relatable when one of the all-time NBA greats, Oscar Robertson, jumped on the radio with a critique of current league darling Steph Curry of Golden State, and today's game in general.

"I just don't think coaches today in basketball understand the game," Robertson said on ESPN's Mike & Mike Show. "They don't know anything about defenses. If I've got a guy who's great shooting the ball outside, don't you want to extend your defense out a little bit?"

That part may be debatable, but Robertson continued.

"They double-teamed me an awful lot," he said. "I look at games today, and they'll start a defense at the foul line. When I played, they were picking you up when you got the ball inbounds. So it's a different strategy about playing defense.

"(Curry) has shot well because of what's going on in basketball today. In basketball today, it's almost like if you can dunk or make a 3-point shot, you're the greatest thing since sliced bread."

Robertson took some flak for what some viewed as unwarranted criticism. He's just an old man yelling at a cloud. Everything was better and tougher back in my day.

Here's the thing about Robertson. He's still the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double over an entire season, in 1961-62. He almost did it two other times.

When what you've accomplished is that special, and hasn't been matched for more than 50 years, you should be able to say whatever you want about the game.

Sure, it's impossible to compare eras in the NBA. During the 1990s, when the Jordan Bulls reigned, defense ruled. These days, the rules have changed to favor offense, and Curry has taken advantage.

Calling Curry anything but spectacular is difficult to defend. Curry broke his own record for 3-pointers made in a single season on Feb. 27 - with 24 games left in the regular season.

The current 3-point leaderboard goes like this: Curry was first with 322 made 3-pointers as of Tuesday morning. Teammate Klay Thompson was second with 209. Third was Portland's Damien Lillard with 191. The gap is astonishing.

Curry is dominating the game like no one before him. He's basically entered the same territory as Robertson, Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain when it comes to spectacular NBA records.

Robertson didn't really say Curry wasn't great. Just that he has it easier. The defense part can be debated. The NBA in the 60s and 70s was high-scoring without much hand-checking allowed. So it had plenty in common with today's era.

At the same time, it's easy to forget how players in Robertson's day earned regular-guy salaries, flew commercial and had to deal with nasty racism.

All things considered, today's NBA players do have it very easy. And not one has come close to averaging a triple-double for the whole season.

So get off Robertson's case. He earned the right to criticize.

Bulls getting healthier:

The Bulls officially listed Derrick Rose (abductor strain) and Mike Dunleavy (stomach virus) as questionable for Wednesday's game in Washington. Pau Gasol is out with a sore knee.

Jimmy Butler seemed to survive Monday's victory at Toronto in decent shape after playing 34 minutes.

"I'm out of shape," Butler said after the game, according to bulls.com. "I've got a couple of more days to get it back; as long as we keep winning, tired or not, I'm happy."

Taj Gibson said his hamstring was "killing" him in the Toronto game, but he doesn't plan to take any games off.