Did the league peak in the 80s-90s.

[Sharmer]

When I go through list of all time greats at all position, one overt fact comes clear, that many of the greats are from the 1980s- to 1990s .

My opinion is that the 1980's-1990s produced the best basketball players and the game has declined since then.

Now in this league, the best big man such as D12 or Hibbert wouldn't stand against chance the best Centers of the 90s.

Where has all the talent gone?

[cos88]

80s no way, the league was in a bad position. it had talent and that's about it. drugs, scandals, low crowd, tape delay games even in the finals, low interest, 0 global interest etc.

but yes all the great players the early 90s had were drafted from mid 80s but peaked in 90s ( malone, stockton, hakeem, charles, pippen, jordan ).


it all started with michael jordan to be honest, nba peaked with him. even more talent, better basketball, all time high tv ratings and worldwide interest.

[Zyzz]

When I go through list of all time greats at all position, one overt fact comes clear, that many of the greats are from the 1980s- to 1990s .

My opinion is that the 1980's-1990s produced the best basketball players and the game has declined since then.

Now in this league, the best big man such as D12 or Hibbert wouldn't stand against chance the best Centers of the 90s.

Where has all the talent gone?

The lebrons of the NBA would rather create super teams, in an already talent-starved league, to further create disparity.

Luckily for us...

A hero emerges.

http://static.foxsports.com/content/fscom/img/2010/02/13/021310-CBK-Thunder-Inside-JW_20100213174812_0_0.JPG

Stern had MJ to save the league.

Silver has KD.

[JohnFreeman]

Well this era has created some of the best guards and forwards?

LeBron
Wade
Kobe
Durant
Rondo
CP3
Allen
Melo

[iamgine]

When I go through list of all time greats at all position, one overt fact comes clear, that many of the greats are from the 1980s- to 1990s .

My opinion is that the 1980's-1990s produced the best basketball players and the game has declined since then.

Now in this league, the best big man such as D12 or Hibbert wouldn't stand against chance the best Centers of the 90s.

Where has all the talent gone?
You took two whole decades, no sh!t it's gonna be great.

00s is definitely comparable to 80s or 90s.

[tragicbronson]

When I go through list of all time greats at all position, one overt fact comes clear, that many of the greats are from the 1980s- to 1990s .

My opinion is that the 1980's-1990s produced the best basketball players and the game has declined since then.

Now in this league, the best big man such as D12 or Hibbert wouldn't stand against chance the best Centers of the 90s.

Where has all the talent gone?

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m31wk5C0XA1rp7jwoo1_500.jpg

[MMM]

08-11 was the peak of the post 2nd Jordan retirement. I think the 90's as a whole was better than the 2000's in terms of the quantity of quality seasons. The early 2000's weren't always pretty despite there being a lot of talent in the league.

[russwest0]

Yes.

Durant is genuinely exciting to watch right now. Most exciting perimeter player since Kobe. He's Dirk with more athleticism and the handles of an elite guard.

Russ is fun as hell to watch too.

[Round Mound]

83-93 :bowdown:

[SHAQisGOAT]

Let's not say some decades (60s and so on) are far apart but some were better than some others, and the best one was clearly the 1980s, when you consider everything

[Marlo_Stanfield]

Yes.

Durant is genuinely exciting to watch right now. Most exciting perimeter player since Kobe. He's Dirk with more athleticism and the handles of an elite guard.

Russ is fun as hell to watch too.
ripthekick:facepalm :facepalm

[Stringer Bell]

I definitely think the playoff games seemed more entertaining. The pace, better passing, even the crowd atmosphere.

[tmacattack33]

The league peaked in 1996.

Patrick Ewing, Alonzo, and Gary Payton were only in the top 10-15 in 1996. :rockon:


MJ
Malone
David Robinson
Shaq
Hakeem Olajuwon
Pippen
Penny Hardaway
Grant Hill
Gary Payton
Charles Barkley (last year in phoenix)


Fukking amazing.

In the next five years the league started to lose its flame as these things all happened: MJ retired, Penny got injured, and David Robinson/Olajuwon/Barkley, Malone/Pippen had all declined tremendously by the year 2000.

[NumberSix]

Not the 80s. The West was even worse than the current East. The league can't be at its peak when an entire conference sucks.


The 90s? Maybe.

[Trollsmasher]

'80s maybe, although the play was pretty bad and defensive effort was non existent

'90s were easily the worst era of all time. One stacked team dominating the league + terrible brand of unwatchable basketball being played + pseudomacho personas trying measuring their cocks (and losing like MJ) all over the league. The ratings went down haaard

Jordan and the '90s are the only reason why the NBA is not the most popular sport in USA today.

Right now NBA is the perfect product and it is in its best era of all time:applause:

[r0drig0lac]

83-97 no question

[AnaheimLakers24]

bball in terms of talent and exciting ball is starting to pick up. there was a dark time after 2011 when all the greats started getting old. now in 2014 kd has become as exciting as he could get. the league took a two year hiatus where anything could of happened but now its over. thank god because people where giving up on ball since no one thought the league would survive after 2011. no one even remembers who won those years i think. bobcats?

[SHAQisGOAT]

'80s maybe, although the play was pretty bad and defensive effort was non existent


:oldlol:

Take that bullshit coming from an ignorant child. :lol



Right now NBA is the perfect product and it is in its best era of all time:applause:

:roll:

[SHAQisGOAT]

Not the 80s. The West was even worse than the current East. The league can't be at its peak when an entire conference sucks.


:facepalm

Not a chance.

Please stop talking nonsense.

First of all you had one of the greatest dynasties of all time, the showtime Lakers, that would easily be champions today, every year. Let's forget that :rolleyes:
The Nuggets were like the mid/late 00's version of the Suns during those days, give or take in some years, with players such as English, Lever, Issel, Kiki, Natt...
The Rockets had a really promising squad (that fell apart), at some point great team with the twin towers Hakeem/Sampson and a pretty good cast around.
The Sonics had a pretty good team still after their championship run in 1979 and then later on a solid one with Ellis, McDaniel and Chambers...
The Mavs in the late 80s were a really good squad, almost made it to the Finals once, with Aguirre, Harper, Blackman, Tarpley, Perkins, Detlef...
Teams like the Blazers or the Jazz already had the same core talent that made into the Finals in the 90s, just that the league wasn't as good later on as before so they achieved more in the 90s - Jazz were even better in the late 80's imo.

Just because the East was beastly, and most likely the GOAT conference, doesn't mean the West was weak, especially not as weak as today's East lmao.

[NumberSix]

:facepalm

Not a chance.

Please stop talking nonsense.

First of all you had one of the greatest dynasties of all time, the showtime Lakers, that would easily be champions today, every year. Let's forget that :rolleyes:
The Nuggets were like the mid/late 00's version of the Suns during those days, give or take in some years, with players such as English, Lever, Issel, Kiki, Natt...
The Rockets had a really promising squad (that fell apart), at some point great team with the twin towers Hakeem/Sampson and a pretty good cast around.
The Sonics had a pretty good team still after their championship run in 1979 and then later on a solid one with Ellis, McDaniel and Chambers...
The Mavs in the late 80s were a really good squad, almost made it to the Finals once, with Aguirre, Harper, Blackman, Tarpley, Perkins, Detlef...
Teams like the Blazers or the Jazz already had the same core talent that made into the Finals in the 90s, just that the league wasn't as good later on as before so they achieved more in the 90s - Jazz were even better in the late 80's imo.

Just because the East was beastly, and most likely the GOAT conference, doesn't mean the West was weak, especially not as weak as today's East lmao.
Stop smoking crack dog. The West was absolute shit in the 80s.

[jlip]

80s no way, the league was in a bad position. it had talent and that's about it. drugs, scandals, low crowd, tape delay games even in the finals, low interest, 0 global interest etc.

but yes all the great players the early 90s had were drafted from mid 80s but peaked in 90s ( malone, stockton, hakeem, charles, pippen, jordan ).


it all started with michael jordan to be honest, nba peaked with him. even more talent, better basketball, all time high tv ratings and worldwide interest.

:facepalm

[TiagoSimoes]

'80s maybe, although the play was pretty bad and defensive effort was non existent

'90s were easily the worst era of all time. One stacked team dominating the league + terrible brand of unwatchable basketball being played + pseudomacho personas trying measuring their cocks (and losing like MJ) all over the league. The ratings went down haaard

Jordan and the '90s are the only reason why the NBA is not the most popular sport in USA today.

Right now NBA is the perfect product and it is in its best era of all time:applause:

well based on my personal experience(notice im from europe), ive always HATED basketball up until 4/5 years ago, and pretty much all i heard about when i was a kid was Jordan and the Bulls. ye ofc i knew about the celtics and the lakers, but that was pretty much it. i dont know if the 90s bulls is the reason why the NBA isnt the most popular in USA, but that team made the league popular in the world, pretty much everyone knew about Air Jordan

[sportjames23]

Did the league peak in the 80s-90s.

Yes.

[AlphaWolf24]

IMO" 84' - 88' was the best 4 year stretch in NBA History....


You had one of if not the greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports Boston Vs LA....

You had 2 polarizing superstars that transcended the sport and Race relations.

You had the Greatest Player emerging and taking the world by storm.

I think Basketball Peaked those 4 years....and while we had afew amazing years since...

Nothing Compares to Showtime , Legend and Air Jordan all at the same time.

all my opinions of course.

[HOoopCityJones]

Nothing Compares to Showtime , Legend and Air Jordan all at the same time.

all my opinions of course.

Shaq-Duncan-Kobe era shits on all of that imo.

We've seen Titans rise and fall in the 2000's.

[AlphaWolf24]

Shaq-Duncan-Kobe era shits on all of that imo.

We've seen Titans rise and fall in the 2000's.


if Magic , Legend , Air Jordan are all like the size of the Queen Mary...

Shaq, Kobe and Duncan are like the hair on a flea's azz..



Not even close to the same excitement.

[SHAQisGOAT]

IMO" 84' - 88' was the best 4 year stretch in NBA History....


You had one of if not the greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports Boston Vs LA....

You had 2 polarizing superstars that transcended the sport and Race relations.

You had the Greatest Player emerging and taking the world by storm.

I think Basketball Peaked those 4 years....and while we had afew amazing years since...

Nothing Compares to Showtime , Legend and Air Jordan all at the same time.

all my opinions of course.


I think I'd go with the same. I'll say it again, when ranking decades they're all pretty close (from 60s and so on) when you look at everything, obviously some above others but I see no MAJOR difference, sometimes considerable but not major.. but yea if I had to name the best it would be the 80s and that time-span you've mentioned:

The biggest basketball rivalry in full swing, producing two of the GOAT teams along the way (86 Celtics and 87 Lakers), teams that played basketball at its best and just wanted to beat each other and nothing less than to win.

Bird and Magic on both sides of the fence, as the biggest icons, two fantastic basketball players in their own way, two different sides of the spectrum, two bringing NBA to the highest level. Peaking around those years too.

Like you've said, Jordan coming in and taking the league by storm, out-of-this-world player since the start, making his mark along the way, amazing everyone, leading the Bulls.

Older stars still making noise like Kareem or Erving, young bucks coming in making their presence felt like Wilkins, Barkley, Clyde, Hakeem.. then also Karl, Ewing or Stock.
Also, you had scoring beasts like King or Dantley, defensive stalwarts like Coop or Buck Williams, athletic freaks like Woolridge or Nance, great shooters like Ellis or Hodges, flashy players like Theus or Sleepy, so on...

Bad Boys were rising to the top, showing how great and stacked they were, with that crazy and cocky attitude, led by Isiah.
Philly still had a terrific squad after 1983, despite the decline of Moses, Doc and Bobby getting old, and Toney's injury.
The Bucks were a powerhouse that coud've been champions in another time, led by the great Sidney Moncrief, with Pressey and Cummings.
Rockets for a while looked like the team of the future (despite later breaking apart) with the twin towers Hakeem/Sampson and a pretty good supporting cast.
Hawks had a great, young and exciting team.
Blazers were already showing a team that later would go on to the Finals, Mavs formed a great squad aroud 1988 with some big names, Nuggets had that up-tempo style but became more all-around and better, English still killing it.

Team-play/passing-game at its highest led by the two best players in the league, exciting plays and players across the board, basketball at its highest form the way it should be, the way it should be played, poetry in motion, lots of stacked teams trying their best, considerable deal of "good" physicality, no bullshit-ass written or unwritten rules, not much superstar treatment, few divas and pussyfied players, excitement and competitivity at the all-star weekend.. Everything you can ask for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN0ruk2SJ2Q

:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

[SHAQisGOAT]

Shaq-Duncan-Kobe era shits on all of that imo.

We've seen Titans rise and fall in the 2000's.

Not a chance and I'm a big fan of those 3 (and obviously not just about them)

[jlip]

Most people I've heard discuss the Golden Era of the league say that it was basically '84-'93. I would agree with Alpha in saying '84-'88 may be the peak. But this is also, me speaking as a person who grew up on that era. I would imagine my father's generation considered the Wilt vs Russell battles of the 60's to be the peak. Younger fans growing up on Lebron vs. Durant may favor this era.

[poido123]

'80s maybe, although the play was pretty bad and defensive effort was non existent

'90s were easily the worst era of all time. One stacked team dominating the league + terrible brand of unwatchable basketball being played + pseudomacho personas trying measuring their cocks (and losing like MJ) all over the league. The ratings went down haaard

Jordan and the '90s are the only reason why the NBA is not the most popular sport in USA today.

Right now NBA is the perfect product and it is in its best era of all time:applause:


:facepalm

Duncan, Shaq, Jordan, Hakeem, Bird, Kobe(arguably), Magic all played in the 90's (although some out of their prime) and all come from the top 10 alltime list.

Then you get to Karl Malone, Stockton, Robinson, Pippen, Penny, Grant Hill, McGrady, Iverson, KG, Dirk, Barkley, and the list goes on and on, all these players are somewhere in the top 50 all time...

90's basketball is easily the deepest of talent the game has seen without question.

I can understand your retardedness Trollsmasher. Guys like you don't pay much attention to anything outside of Lebron.

[Psileas]

Most people I've heard discuss the Golden Era of the league say that it was basically '84-'93. I would agree with Alpha in saying '84-'88 may be the peak. But this is also, me speaking as a person who grew up on that era. I would imagine my father's generation considered the Wilt vs Russell battles of the 60's to be the peak. Younger fans growing up on Lebron vs. Durant may favor this era.

This is the thing. Most posters on NBA boards, even big ones like this, belong to pretty much the same generation, with posters like you being exceptions and others like Frescobaldi being even bigger exceptions.
If you want to get some more "objective" results when it comes to people comparing eras, have them exclude the era when they were around 12-25.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Shaq-Duncan-Kobe era shits on all of that imo.
What? Are you dumb, or na