Warriors’ feat nothing without a ring: Harper

SINGAPORE — Records do not mean a thing without a championship ring to it, so says National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Ron Harper.

The former point guard, who won five NBA titles with Chicago Bulls and the LA Lakers, does not think much of Golden State Warriors’ record-breaking feat in April for the most number of wins in a regular season.

Harper was part of the Bulls’ famed 1995-1996 squad, when he and his illustrious team-mates — including NBA great Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman — ended their campaign with a 72-10 win-loss record. They went on to win the NBA title during the post-season.

That record stood for 20 years before the Stephen Curry-led Warriors beat that mark last season with 73-9. However, the Warriors lost out to Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. That, according to Harper, is the difference.

“Like me and my friends say, 73-9 sounds good, but 72-10 has a (championship) ring to it. I’ll leave it right there,” the 52-year-old told TODAY in an interview at The Westin Singapore. “You got to get this one down on the papers: It doesn’t mean a thing without a ring to it.

“Any sport you play, you want to be known as the best team. Nobody recalls how many season games you (win), they only recall if you are a champion.”

So the Bulls of 1996 are a better team than the Warriors of 2016? Harper certainly thinks so. In fact, he went as far as saying the standard of play is not high as before.

“Now, the game is more like, a young girl going down the streets in a pair of high heels, as compared to the past with a girl going down the streets in a pair of combat boots and a big cowboy hat on her head,” Harper said.

“It is a different game of basketball in the ’90s compared to now. When I came into the NBA, it was more of a defensive basketball game and more of a grinder. Now, the game is more free-flowing. You can’t hold a ball, you can’t grab a guy. Back when I was playing, it was more of a physical game.

“These days, it is not as physical. They changed the rules, so that the game now is more about: Can you score points? In the past, you can play defence too.

“Is the game better now? No.

“If Golden State won 73 games the past season, how many games will we (1995-’96 Bulls team) win in this day? We probably would have won 78 games.”

And do not get him started on whether there is a player out there who is better than Jordan.

His answer? No.

“There is never going to be another MJ,” he said. “(Cleveland star) Lebron James is probably the best all-around player in the game now, but nobody is getting close to MJ. The last guy who was the closest was Kobe Bryant (Lakers star who retired in April).

“There is not going to be anyone who can play basketball the MJ way. The way MJ played was very unique, and the way he approached each game, was phenomenal. He was gifted, worked hard, and was a fierce competitor. He never forgets losses.”

Ron Harper will be conducting basketball drills at a SportsCares Basketball Workshop today at Temasek Club. On Sept 9-11, Harper will coach about 200 young basketball players in Singapore from aged 10 to 14 in the first Junior NBA Singapore 2016 National Training Camp at the Singapore Sport Hub’s OCBC Arena. At the end of the National Training Camp, 10 boys and five girls will be named Jr.NBA All-Stars and will participate in an overseas NBA experience together with fellow All-Stars from South-east Asia later in the year.