are we witnessing a weak era or a "balanced" era

[jzek]

Role players winning FMVPs two years in a row never happened in Magic's or Bird's or Jordan's era.

Even before game 1 of the finals, you knew it was either going to be Player X from Team A or Player Y from Team B.

[Straight_Ballin]

Weak era that has a media created superstar such that he gets exposed and players like iggy and kwahi can win FMVP for outperforming him.

In contrast, no role player ever out performed Jordan in the finals, much less a star player.

Such is the difference between a weak era and a hard era.

[sd3035]

Role players winning FMVPs two years in a row never happened in Magic's or Bird's or Jordan's era.

Even before game 1 of the finals, you knew it was either going to be Player X from Team A or Player Y from Team B.

It's the "matched up with Lebald" era

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

00s
90s
80s
60s
70s
50s/10s

[gts]

:facepalm who wins finals MVP does not dictate an era...

FMVP has been won by role players who shined before, nothing new

I'd also question the use of the term role player for Leonard or Iggy, Cerdic Maxwell was a role player too if they are

[Clyde]

Good teams have bench players that could start on most teams :confusedshrug:

[ISHGoat]

Weak. A true alpha grabs the Finals MVP, he doesn't leave it to chance.

2/7

including 0/1 in 2004 when he was literally trying to grab the fmvp but cost his team the title instead :roll:

[3ball]

Role players winning FMVPs two years in a row never happened in Magic's or Bird's or Jordan's era.

Even before game 1 of the finals, you knew it was either going to be Player X from Team A or Player Y from Team B.
If Magic were on these Warriors, he would've won FMVP.

Magic isn't just better than Curry.. He's dimensions better.. It's hard to fathom just how much better he is.

Ditto on MJ and Bird... Magic, Bird or Jordan would've won FMVP on the Spurs last year or the Warriors this year.. In his prime, Duncan wins FMVP last year too.

[Marchesk]

Strongest era yet:

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Matthew+Dellavedova+Cleveland+Cavaliers+v+tjKAMQi_ kSrl.jpg

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/1001/nba_g_james_gb2_576.jpg

http://coedbc.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/marc-and-pau-gasol-yachting.jpg

http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/steve-nash-pink-sweater-bag-530x545.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/95/14/03/9514037b5d6a7171b6ee3e566f1d2e4a.jpg

[scandisk_]

Neither weak nor balanced. It's Bron's era.

TD and Kobe are on the way out

WB, Steph, Beard, AD are all stepping up. We'll prolly have a more balanced league when bron's game hits father time.

[Kobe_6/8]

2/7

including 0/1 in 2004 when he was literally trying to grab the fmvp but cost his team the title instead :roll:

Kobe had to defer to Shaq or he would quit like LeBron did on 1st-option Wade in the 2011 finals.

[dubeta]

2/7

including 0/1 in 2004 when he was literally trying to grab the fmvp but cost his team the title instead :roll:

Damn :oldlol:

[warriorfan]

That FMVP will go down as one of the biggest frauds when the LeBron espn hype train dies down and everyone realize Iguodala didn't stop anyone, LeBron just sucks at shooting.

[coin24]

Damn :oldlol:


Glad you agree with yourself:lol

[SpecialQue]

Any era where Lebron's the face of the NBA can only be considered weak.

[tpols]

Not necessarily weak, but definite LeBeta era

[nzahir]

Not necessarily weak, but definite LeBeta era
Its a top 2-3 era.
90s, then 80s and then the era of 2000s to now

[TheCorporation]

Obviously more balanced...

We won't be seeing someone winning 11 rings again
We very likely won't be seeing someone getting to 9 finals (Magic Johnson)
We very likely won't even see someone 3-peat again (Jordan/Shaq)

Just to put this balanced era into context, the Dynasty Spurs have never won back-to-back...Hell, 2014 was the first time the Spurs ever even appeared in the Finals back-to-back let alone win it all.

In 2013 they lost in the Finals
In 2014 they won it all
In 2015 they lost in the 1st round

Very balanced.

You won't ever see someone winning 10 scoring titles in a row like MJ, either. Hell, Durant had the only chance and Melo already messed that up and then his own teammate did :lol

[Marchesk]

We very likely won't be seeing someone getting to 9 finals (Magic Johnson)

Lebron only needs 3 more in the East with a good young Cavs roster.

He could end up 4 for 9.

[scandisk_]

You won't ever see someone winning 10 scoring titles in a row like MJ, either. Hell, Durant had the only chance and Melo already messed that up and then his own teammate did :lol

Prime MJ playing today means Durant can kiss his chances of winning that title (even a single one) unless MJ gets injured of course.

And no one won that title 10x in a row

:lol

[GimmeThat]

with a direct jab at the Espn professionals at Connecticut,

the popularity of the sport, as well as ratings, probably determines it more than anything else.

[TheCorporation]

Lebron only needs 3 more in the East with a good young Cavs roster.

He could end up 4 for 9.

What LBJ has done is already uncanny (5 consecutive NBA Finals appearances in modern NBA) but I guess if anyone could get to 9 Finals it would be him. It is possible, but I'm not sure how likely. I think he gets to 2 more and wins them both (as the man).

[TheCorporation]

Prime MJ playing today means Durant can kiss his chances of winning that title (even a single one) unless MJ gets injured of course.

And no one won that title 10x in a row

:lol

MJ won for 10 years in a row, in my book.

He won 7, left for two years, came back and won 3 more times.

He won for 10 consecutive seasons that he played...

Hell, we can say he won "only" 7 in a row then. We probably won't see that happen again, either. The only two times someone won 7 scoring titles was during an era that obviously wasn't as balanced. Wilt and Jordan did it, and I am not taking anything away, as I've said I don't think anyone will ever amass 10 scoring titles in their career again. The league is simply too balanced. Durant won 3, then Melo won one, then KD won another then Westbrook beat him lol So there was his chance to get to 10, or 7 in a row.

[Asukal]

Weak era. Star players getting injured one after another. Old ass spurs being a factor every year? I love the spurs tho. :whatever:

EDIT: Add in the best player of the era is a BETA pos. :oldlol:

[Jasper]

watching Lakers and Boston with Bird and Majic , that was a weak a$$ era(.)

They dominated the league , and no other team truly competed.

Bulls on the other hand , could be considered the same , but two of the greatest 50 players on the same team, in a war of defenses was not a weak era.

I actually believe that its a balanced league right now.
Teams have multiple players that at any given time would be all-stars in past decades... in other words we have better players and that means better teams.

League really doesn't have a team that is stacked to the gills with awesome players that would dominate the whole league.


My point is enjoy.:basketball

[Dragonyeuw]

The 00' stars( meaning the guys who came in late 90's and retiring or on the way out) were much stronger across the board than the current crop of stars who joined in the past decade or so. Asides from Lebron, Durant, Wade, who else is there? Harden? Howard? Griffin? Alridge? Those guys don't sniff the 80s/90s/00s best. Westbrook and Curry are getting there, Rose has had one relatively healthy season in the last 4....I mean no. This current era in terms of star player is much weaker.

[Rocketswin2013]

The league is as strong as ever, period.

[Jailblazers7]

It's a function of the Spurs and Warriors play style and roster composition more than anything.

[HurricaneKid]

This is entirely due to the radical shifting of the defensive rules and strategies. You can stop ANYONE in todays game. Its made for a far more balanced game. You cannot have 1 note "specialists" anymore. Anyone defenses don't have to concern themselves with become enormous burdens on offensive production (see Bogut "guarding" Tony Allen). The worse the shooter, the more help his man can give.

[oh the horror]

Neither weak nor balanced. It's Bron's era.

TD and Kobe are on the way out

WB, Steph, Beard, AD are all stepping up. We'll prolly have a more balanced league when bron's game hits father time.




Brons era? How is it his era when he's getting rocked in the finals more than once? He has a losing finals record dude. Hardly "his era "

[DonDadda59]

Been on the record that this is the weakest era since the pre merger 70s.

And there is no balance, especially between the conferences.

[hawke812]

Role players winning FMVPs two years in a row never happened in Magic's or Bird's or Jordan's era.

Even before game 1 of the finals, you knew it was either going to be Player X from Team A or Player Y from Team B.

If Bird, Magic or Jordan played in this era, they would have a lot less rings.

Defenses in their era were like wet paper napkins:lol

[Rose'sACL]

Been on the record that this is the weakest era since the pre merger 70s.

And there is no balance, especially between the conferences.
yes. 1987 was the most balanced year.
Lakers played a 42 wins team then a 38 wins team and then a 40 win team to reach the finals.
Such a tough road.

This era has all types of teams. Elite ISO offense teams like cavs and okc(when healthy) while also having all time great team offenses like spurs and warriors.
Other than OKC, all these 3 teams play great defense too.


If Bird, Magic or Jordan played in this era, they would have a lot less rings.

Defenses in their era were like wet paper napkins:lol
that is not true for the 90s but was certainly true about the 80s.

[oh the horror]

yes. 1987 was the most balanced year.
Lakers played a 42 wins team then a 38 wins team and then a 40 win team to reach the finals.
Such a tough road.

This era has all types of teams. Elite ISO offense teams like cavs and okc(when healthy) while also having all time great team offenses like spurs and warriors.
Other than OKC, all these 3 teams play great defense too.





And we saw some of the worst god damn basketball in these playoffs I've seen in over 10 years man. Maybe there's varying offenses and defenses but teams execution and abilities to perform are vastly overrated at the moment. A lot of downright dumb basketball being played lately

[Rose'sACL]

And we saw some of the worst god damn basketball in these playoffs I've seen in over 10 years man. Maybe there's varying offenses and defenses but teams execution and abilities to perform are vastly overrated at the moment. A lot of downright dumb basketball being played lately
You would have seen a lot of dumb basketball in early 2000s. it is all about match-ups. Even this year's spurs would have defeated the injured cavs in 5 games max.
Warriors really needed a tim duncan like big. i joke about it in other threads but curry was the real MVP. LeBron was fatigued more than anything else.There was no ball handler on the cavs and a very short rotation. Iggy got lucky.
Cavs knew that warriors hated playing a slow paced games so lebron ISO was the only way cavs had any chance of competing with the warriors.

[Showtime80']

Any time a lineup as pathetic as the one the Cavs had can make the frigging Finals it's a very weak era! One man perimeter oriented teams didn't sniff the Finals in the 1980's! The worst team that made the Finals in the 80's were the 81' Rockets and they just happened to be lead by an Offensive and Defensive inside juggernaut in Moses Malone!

And for the record during Magic's career from 1979 to 1991, the West had a 47% win rate against the East while during LeBald's career from 2003 to 2015 the East has had a 42% win rate against the West. Not to mention the fact that the league moved a perennial 80's power in the Bucks from the West to the East in 1980 and added the expansion Mavs to the West in 1981. If that move does't happen the winning percentages for both conferences would've been about even!

You could take about 5 to 6 championship lineups from the 1980's and rank em' in the top 10! What other decade can claim that! Not the 70's, 90's, 00's or present.

To top it all off you had the 3 of the most iconic and transcendent athletes playing at the same time in Magic, Bird and Jordan and thanks to the stacked drafts of early to mid 80's that brought in a slew of hall of famers and top 50 players combined with the superstars from the 70's that were still in the league and you had the greatest collection of talent the NBA has ever had!

This LeBron, Curry, Harden and Westbrick era just doesn't measure up! The game has become soft lacking in fundamental and skill the inside and mid range game are all but extinct as well as true fast break basketball!

There's a reason why the league has changed so many rules in the past decade to make these modern chumps seem watchable! They didn't need to make such changes in the 80's, the players skill, IQ and overall talent was enough!