Basketball's golden age- 60s, 80s or 90s?

[ChrisKreager]

If you had to ask me, I would say the 1990s.

I know people point out to the aura of talent and legends of the 1980s or the amazing amount of future hall of famers in the 1960s, but those were eras of predictability.

1960s- Yes, you had the likes of Wilt, West, Oscar, etc. but save for the legendary 76ers of 1967, it was the same outcome every year- all Celtics, all the time. If you were not a Boston fan, it could not have been fun. (Wake me up when Bill Rusell doesn't win a title!)

1980s- Again, for all the talent and great teams, it came down to the same old. Not in terms of winning titles, but how the East was basically won by two teams until the Bad Boy Pistons came along, and that save for two Houston upsets, the West had a hopeless feel if you were not a Laker fan (How many Denver or Dallas or Phoenix fans felt hopeless? Why is it always the same old Lakers every year?).

The 1990s- Even though the Bulls and Rockets (and Detroit's second title) dominated, there was never a sense of hopelessness. All the good East teams felt like they had a shot, the West was wide-open following a decade of LA domination, the talent was awesome, the game went international, and it reached unprecedented popularity with the finest players becoming true stars.

[1987_Lakers]

mid 80's - early 90's

Also people don't understand how good we have it right now. So much talent & superstars in today's league. The late 00's - present will go down as one of the best eras this league has seen.

[OKCThunderUP]

2010-2020 is going to be the best decade of NBA ball ever imo.

[Micku]

For the NBA? The 90s was when the NBA peaked domestically in popularity.

For talent and teams? The NBA was stacked in the 80s in talent and teams. About four teams in the 80s are considered the best teams of all time. Two or three of them are arguably the GOAT team. And talent was great across the board. Especially in the mid 80s.

In the early 90s was a nice balance between fast pace basketball of the 80s and the halfcourt offense that you see in the 00s. They also still have physical play. Pretty cool stuff.

The only time where a franchise did not dominate the league was in the 70s. The 50s, 60s, 80s, 90s, and 00s were all dominated by a franchise or two.

[Pushxx]

80s

[Psileas]

If you had to ask me, I would say the 1990s.

I know people point out to the aura of talent and legends of the 1980s or the amazing amount of future hall of famers in the 1960s, but those were eras of predictability.

1960s- Yes, you had the likes of Wilt, West, Oscar, etc. but save for the legendary 76ers of 1967, it was the same outcome every year- all Celtics, all the time. If you were not a Boston fan, it could not have been fun. (Wake me up when Bill Rusell doesn't win a title!)

1980s- Again, for all the talent and great teams, it came down to the same old. Not in terms of winning titles, but how the East was basically won by two teams until the Bad Boy Pistons came along, and that save for two Houston upsets, the West had a hopeless feel if you were not a Laker fan (How many Denver or Dallas or Phoenix fans felt hopeless? Why is it always the same old Lakers every year?).

The 1990s- Even though the Bulls and Rockets (and Detroit's second title) dominated, there was never a sense of hopelessness. All the good East teams felt like they had a shot, the West was wide-open following a decade of LA domination, the talent was awesome, the game went international, and it reached unprecedented popularity with the finest players becoming true stars.

Given that the Bulls had won 67, 72 and 69 games in different periods of the same decade, more than the 60's Celtics could imagine, given that the Celtics had no absolute HCA after 1965 and that they were pushed to 7th games more frequently as well, I don't see how the 60's were more "hopeless" when it comes to the outcome.

[JohnnySic]

'83 - '93.

[TheMan]

80 to mid 90's...the NBA is a pu.ssy league right now, the offensive player has the big edge with all the soft rules, LBJ would've gotten kicked in the teeth back in the day by PFs and C's that were ALLOWED to physically manhandle you, you can't even breathe on a player going to the hoop nowadays.

[miles berg]

84-93 and today, today is red hot.

[AlphaWolf24]

:lol @ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...






I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's

[colts19]

:lol @ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...






I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's

This.:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

[97 bulls]

:lol @ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...






I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's
I do agree. Unfortunately for the 90s bulls, there just wasn't the storyline year in and out that could rival what magic and bird had.

[CavaliersFTW]

60's until early 70's when the league was small enough to sustain them was undeniably the golden age of the dominate centers. Unusually agile track and field stud 7 footers that flat-out dominated the game (Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain) had a strong influence in such a small league. They forced teams to look for only the most athletic centers available that could best match the influential big's in size and endurance. All teams essentially adopted a fast-break game. (They'd just get murdered on the scoreboard if they didn't anyways).

70's is sort of this period of adjustment and recovery from rapid league expansion and then competition and then merger of the ABA and NBA. The retirement of those 60's centers and the realization that they couldn't be replaced as fast as they left resulted in re-evaluation and tweaking of NBA rules and marketing to address the lack of big men. Game pace slumped as well. There was a quiet racial rift from the white players retiring and also not being replaced as fast as they left.

80's is the NBA's giant leap into the mass-marketing world. This came together exactly when they also started getting forward and guard rules improved to the point that they better outweighed the fewer relative #'s of dominant bigs. Newer generations of fans weren't carrying the same prejudice so any rift in "black" vs "white" league drama was fading . Rapid improvement in shoe technology almost certainly also allowed for faster and more stable footwork showcasing more "athleticism". In addition to this, the break-away rims invented in 1979 suddenly opened up the game too spectacular hang-on-the rim "highlight" dunks. The game briefly went back to dazzling fast-break style similar to the 60's thanks to the influence of teams like show-time Lakers.

90's is another expansion/recovery time but the media empire that was the NBA by that time handled it well, and Prime Jordan and many of the other players carrying over from the 80's kept it very interesting despite some pretty poor teams here and there, although late 90's definitely seemed like a slump.


I'd say 80's or 60's is the strongest the league has been but honestly, early 90's aren't exactly bad they just didn't have some of the same rivalry/dynasty competition. All the era's do have unique strong points though, even in the re-structuring phases of the 70's.

[97 bulls]

This decade may give the magic/bird rivalry a run though with okc and miami featuring james/durant. Both players are a perfect contrast of each other. With james being the bad guy (like it or not ) and durant being the good guy

[OldSchoolBBall]

'86-'93.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Golden age was from the late 80's to early-mid 90's.

This decade that features KD, Wade, Lebron, Rose, Westbrook, Paul, Blake, Love, etc. have some serious firepower though.


This decade may give the magic/bird rivalry a run though with okc and miami featuring james/durant. Both players are a perfect contrast of each other. With james being the bad guy (like it or not ) and durant being the good guy

So you think the 80's >>> 90's, '97?

[blablabla]

:lol @ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...





I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's
this

[Soundwave]

:lol @ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...






I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's

Well that and the 80s still did have Jordan and the Bulls were even competitive by the late 80s too. Yeah they were still too raw to beat the Pistons, but the Pistons were also beating up on the Celtics, Lakers, Blazers, etc. too.

By 1988 or so Jordan was probably the most popular NBA player.

[97 bulls]

Golden age was from the late 80's to early-mid 90's.

This decade that features KD, Wade, Lebron, Rose, Westbrook, Paul, Blake, Love, etc. have some serious firepower though.



So you think the 80's >>> 90's, '97?
I've always argued against the the assumption that the bulls were overrated cuz the talent in the 90s was weak. However, I do realize that the bulls rivalries just weren't on the level of the lakers/celtics. Mainly cuz the bulls never lost. And when they did lose, they came back the next year with a vengence. They lost to detroit in 90, came back and swept them in 91, they lost to orlando in 95, came back and swept them in 96. The only real rivalry the bulls had year in and out was new york, and you can't really call that a rivalry cuz the knicks barely beat the bulls without jordan and never beat them at full strength.

Saying that, I don't believe the talent level has been better or worse in any decade besides the 70s.

[Yanch856]

2010-2020 is going to be the best decade of NBA ball ever imo.

Yes I believe this too!

TBH globally I think Jeremy Lin as a commercial product is already more popular than Mike in absolute terms. 1. Due to the internet 2. China.

But my only bash is that NBA has been dumbed down a lot. The average intellectual age of the league drops 1y/o with every passing year. People in the 30s enjoyed NBA in the 90s. Nowadays 15y/os love the game. I mean I wouldn't call basketball the thinking man's sport anymore.

[WillC]

'83 - '93.

Yup, pretty much.

[SwooshReturns]

'86-'93.
In terms of the SPORT of basketball ... meaning when it truly was a game, and not a PRODUCT. This is the only correct answer.

It had an incredible amount of star players, great TEAM game, physicality, ACTUAL rivalries, no AAU brotherhood between players, ACTUAL competitive nature.

In terms of the stylized, marketed, packaged fast food version of "basketball" aka the product of marketing, with the rule changes built to help the game's popularity, etc.

2006 - current

Because even though the game has become streamlined, and built for marketing purposes (shoes, fantasy sports, etc) there is a lot of great HOF caliber star players in the game.

[JustinJDW]

'83 - '93.This.

[mlh1981]

Basketball's golden age was when we were kids. I would assume for many, that's when we are the most interested, and fascinated, by the product. We gain more knowledge as we get older, but also get more cynical.

[Yanch856]

In terms of the SPORT of basketball ... meaning when it truly was a game, and not a PRODUCT. This is the only correct answer.

It had an incredible amount of star players, great TEAM game, physicality, ACTUAL rivalries, no AAU brotherhood between players, ACTUAL competitive nature.

In terms of the stylized, marketed, packaged fast food version of "basketball" aka the product of marketing, with the rule changes built to help the game's popularity, etc.

2006 - current

Because even though the game has become streamlined, and built for marketing purposes (shoes, fantasy sports, etc) there is a lot of great HOF caliber star players in the game.

Also, it depends on which world perspective you take:

From USA's point of view, 1992 was the year the Dream Team won every single game in the Olympics to the gold medal. US players were treated like rock stars stepping off the team coach in Barcelona. Players from opposing team asked for Mike's autographs after being beat by 60 points (Angola).

From the world's point of view, now as many as 1/3 of the NBA is "foreign" players. Dream team became Redeem team. Manu, Parker, AK, Gasol, Rubio, Yao, Lin. So... basketball is more of a global game now. "World Champs" is not as synonymous with NBA champs as it was 10-20yrs ago.

Also, if you are referring to the NBA itself, you could hardly call 80s the golden age of basketball. Bird and Magic only barely saved NBA from the mess that was ABA. I'd call it nostalgia at best. The rivalry was the sequal to Bird/Magic college rivalry anyway.

I mean, with the American president following ESPN highlights of Lin, (and actually, texting Battier to congratulate him after game 3 Rockets win against the Lakers in the WCF 2009), how can you say NBA is on the decline??

[Round Mound]

All 80s and somewhat Early 90s

[HighFlyer23]

80s until the end of the Jordan era

[Mr. I'm So Rad]

2000s

[SwooshReturns]

So... basketball is more of a global game now. "World Champs" is not as synonymous with NBA champs as it was 10-20yrs ago.
Only for a short period of time when USA players became complacent and didn't treat world competition seriously.

You do realize from 2007 - current, Team USA has b1tch smacked the competition, right?

Regardless of the close Gold Medal Game (we beat Spain the previous game in the Olympics by 35 points), we have won convincingly. The 2010 FIBA was like our C-team at the time. And we still won fairly easily.

It's just the game and it's players are more accessible, so players in other countries can watch them and study them more. So therefore the players aren't treated with shock and awe when they step on the floor to face them.

I don't buy that talent has become better worldwide.

That Yugoslavia Team the 1992 Dream Team faced in the Gold Medal Game is as good or better than ANY Spain, Argentina team I've seen in the past 8 - 10 years.


I mean, with the American president following ESPN highlights of Lin, (and actually, texting Battier to congratulate him after game 3 Rockets win against the Lakers in the WCF 2009), how can you say NBA is on the decline??
Because much like the SOFT rule changes implemented in the NFL, the same rule changes applied to the NBA. They were made to streamline the game, increase offensive numbers and production ... thus creating interest worldwide. It's a product now, and is marketed as such.

AAU mentality between players, lack of physicality reducing the number of actual INTENSE rivalries between players and teams. It's become less and less a sport, and more just a form of entertainment.

The same no touch rules on permiter players, is the equivelent to the NFL where you can't touch recievers past 5 yards (back in the day you could bump them whenever) ... can't BREATH on QBs. And if those QBs were allowed to be hit, it does something psychologically to intimidate them to keep them from attempting future passes without being anxious or nervous. THAT'S a sport.

The rule changes in both sports are made to MANUFACTURE more star players, thus creating more interest int he game.

When it was just a sport, and the rules didn't cater offensive (highlight, casual fan creating interest) sensibilities ... we had LESS stars, but they were ACTUAL superstar players.

Would you dare say Drew Brees is better than Dan Marino even though he broke his total season yardage achievment? No ... it's easier to throw the ball around now. When Aaron Rodgers (the MVP) his replacement comes in for a SINGLE game and chucks it for 300+ yards (when that used to be a rarity and actual achievment) ... you just KNOW things are messed up.

Sports are pure entertainment now ... nothing less.

I'd say around the mid 2000's with the boom of the internet era, media coverage, global visibility of all games and the attempted expansion into foreign markets (the NBA to China, NFL to Europe) ... the game has been streamlined to become an entertaining product, built to SELL.

In the TV era, which ended in the early 2000's, and then everyone became WAY more cynical. Sports were ... well sports. That isn't nostalgia talking ... that's truth. Just watch the damn games from just 8 years ago, they hardly resemble the same actual athletic competitions.

[PTB Fan]

80's.

I get the feeling that the 70's.. are underrated nowadays though. They were pretty strong.

[97 bulls]

Basketball's golden age was when we were kids. I would assume for many, that's when we are the most interested, and fascinated, by the product. We gain more knowledge as we get older, but also get more cynical.
I aagree. After reading the posts in this thread, I think we need to define what "golden age" means. Is it talent? Best stats? Rivalries? Popularity? Evolution? I think every decade can lay claim to one of these criteria

Best stats? 60s

Best rivalries? 80s

Popularity? 90s

Eolution? 00s

It does seem like alot of posters are thinking with their hearts

[gengiskhan]

Greatest Talent + power/strengthening/conditioning/Defense = '90s decade

Greatest Skills set + Bball fundamentals = '80s decade

Greatest shot selection due to extra pass = '70s decade

Greatest NBA Evolution = '60s Decade

Greatest Destruction of the NBA due to defensive rules changes = '00 Decade

Greatest mockery of the NBA downgraded to Amateur league from Pro level = '10 decade

[zay_24]

2000s
This..
From the epic dunk contest, to and1 mixtapes, to the brawls, to da players releasing rap albums, comin to games with durags n pants saggin representin da hood.

All da white boys can say da 80s, but real hood niggggas kno da 2000s was wat it was

[Yanch856]

This..
From the epic dunk contest, to and1 mixtapes, to the brawls, to da players releasing rap albums, comin to games with durags n pants saggin representin da hood.

All da white boys can say da 80s, but real hood niggggas kno da 2000s was wat it was

For sure man.

And for the Lin fans, things have just got real.

[jlauber]

In terms of absolute pure talent-laden rosters, the mid-60's was about as good as it gets.,

I have covered the 66-67 season, and I won't break it down into detail here now, but the Warriors, Royals, Hawks, Knicks, Lakers, Celtics, and Sixers were FILLED with great rosters. All in a ten team league.

For example, the Lakers had West, Baylor, HOFer Gail Goodrich, Archie Clark (who would be an all-star the very next season), Abdul-Rahman (who would average 24.0 ppg the very next season), Rudy LaRusso (who would average 21.8 ppg the very next season), 6-10 Darrell Imhoff (who averaged a double-double), and TWO seven-footers (one of them mostly a PF.)

With ALL of that talent, LA went 36-45. Think about that...West and Baylor, arguably two of the Top-20 players of all-time (and near their primes), along with a stacked roster, could only go 36-45! That is the equivalent of Lebron and Wade, with a solid supporting cast, and in their primes...going 37-45.

[Collie]

From the time Magic and Bird first stepped on an NBA court to MJ's first retirement.

[TheBigVeto]

Golden age = between the year Magic & Bird entered the league and when Jordan retired for the first time.

[TheBigVeto]

In terms of absolute pure talent-laden rosters, the mid-60's was about as good as it gets.,

I have covered the 66-67 season, and I won't break it down into detail here now, but the Warriors, Royals, Hawks, Knicks, Lakers, Celtics, and Sixers were FILLED with great rosters. All in a ten team league.

For example, the Lakers had West, Baylor, HOFer Gail Goodrich, Archie Clark (who would be an all-star the very next season), Abdul-Rahman (who would average 24.0 ppg the very next season), Rudy LaRusso (who would average 21.8 ppg the very next season), 6-10 Darrell Imhoff (who averaged a double-double), and TWO seven-footers (one of them mostly a PF.)

With ALL of that talent, LA went 36-45. Think about that...West and Baylor, arguably two of the Top-20 players of all-time (and near their primes), along with a stacked roster, could only go 36-45! That is the equivalent of Lebron and Wade, with a solid supporting cast, and in their primes...going 37-45.

That's because LA didn't have David Stern to save them back then!

[HighFlyer23]

This..
From the epic dunk contest, to and1 mixtapes, to the brawls, to da players releasing rap albums, comin to games with durags n pants saggin representin da hood.

All da white boys can say da 80s, but real hood niggggas kno da 2000s was wat it was

Agreed

streetball was created in the late 90s early 00s ... real basketball began in the 90s with Jordan ... no more scrub whites ... even Turks are in the league now

[Nevaeh]

Basketball's golden age was when we were kids. I would assume for many, that's when we are the most interested, and fascinated, by the product. We gain more knowledge as we get older, but also get more cynical.

I used to think this, until I started re watching games from the "Golden" era, and realized "Damn, these players weren't f@cking around at ALL when they stepped on the court". The mid 80s-early 90s just had an edge and unpredictable style that hasn't been seen since.

The fact that it was all about the GAME, and not the personal lives of the players back then helped a lot too, because you could "paint" your own personality of the players, based on how they played the game. Once the league started reporting on Dennis Rodman going out on the town with Madonna, I knew things would never be the same again.
:oldlol:

[Yanch856]

I used to think this, until I started re watching games from the "Golden" era, and realized "Damn, these players weren't f@cking around at ALL when they stepped on the court". The mid 80s-early 90s just had an edge and unpredictable style that hasn't been seen since.

The fact that it was all about the GAME, and not the personal lives of the players back then helped a lot too, because you could "paint" your own personality of the players, based on how they played the game. Once the league started reporting on Dennis Rodman going out on the town with Madonna, I knew things would never be the same again.
:oldlol:

He even wrote about dating Madonna LMAO It was a NY Times best seller for ages haha.

Very insightful.:cheers:

[nycelt84]

This decade may give the magic/bird rivalry a run though with okc and miami featuring james/durant. Both players are a perfect contrast of each other. With james being the bad guy (like it or not ) and durant being the good guy

That's impossible because not only did Magic vs Bird play a part in Lakers vs Celtics the league's biggest rivalry it was also east vs west, white vs black, existed before they came to the league and played a single finals game with each other, and also at one time they really did hate each other. To have a rivalry that captures so many dynamics like that is once in a lifetime.