Former NBA Players Debate What City Has Better Point Guards: Chicago Or New York?

Sep 10, 2022; Springfield, MA, USA; 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Tim Hardaway on stage with presenters (left to right) Isiah Thomas, Yolanda Griffith, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Sep 10, 2022; Springfield, MA, USA; 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Tim Hardaway on stage with presenters (left to right) Isiah Thomas, Yolanda Griffith, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Former NBA players Troy Hudson and Kenny Anderson recently debated about whether the best point guards in the 1980s and `90s came from Chicago or New York City.

Hudson, who played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves, is from Carbondale, Ill. Anderson, who was an All-Star in 1994 with the New Jersey Nets, hails from New York.

The two sparred about the topic with Back In The Day Hoops On SI. Chicago has the likes of Tim Hardaway and Isiah Thomas while New York had Stephon Marbury and Kenny Smith.

Here's what they had to say:

Anderson: "You know, I gotta go with New York. I'm going to go with my hometown. Me and Antoini Walker, we played for the Celtics for five years, so he was always saying Chicago. But the big-time guards I know, Isiah Thomas and Tim Hardaway, it's a lot of others but you've got to give me names."

Anderson: "New York, we just got tons of guys that didn't make it. I know you're from Illinois but everybody gotta give love to NYC, baby."

Hudson: "NYC point guard and Illinois point guards, we both got that thang. But y'all got a different thang. I would probably say we shoot better.

Anderson: "Dribbling. We dribble in a phone booth. That's New York. The ball-handling skills are crazy."

Troy Hudson is a contributor to Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at troyehudson@gmail.com

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Troy Hudson
TROY HUDSON

Hudson is a 12-year NBA veteran who played with the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves. He helped lead the Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals in 2004. After retirement, he remains a fan of the league.