do we really have better athletes today?

[swagga]

With all this genetic advancement and nutrion/training enhancement talk these days, I for one can't understand why these superathletes of today can't play as much as the athletes of 20 years ago. The minutes per game are at an all time low, and it's not because of foul trouble or an increase in in-game activity.

Thoughts?

[Nuff Said]

Most of those athletes fizzled out early tho. Look at 48 mpg wilt's stats. The decline is real. Players are now trying to avoid injury and extend their careers.

[Sarcastic]

No. We just have better drugs.

[senelcoolidge]

*******. Yeah, players are trying to extend their careers. Pride as been thrown out the of the window for years now.

[iamgine]

With all this genetic advancement and nutrion/training enhancement talk these days, I for one can't understand why these superathletes of today can't play as much as the athletes of 20 years ago. The minutes per game are at an all time low, and it's not because of foul trouble or an increase in in-game activity.

Thoughts?
The effort per minute has increased dramatically, particularly on the defensive end, which automatically increase the effort needed by the offensive end.

[Cali Syndicate]

Different type of athletes. Different focus on training. Basketball players of the past basically ran marathon's every game with the pace they played. Today's athletes train more for explosiveness.

[Kobe_6/8]

With all this genetic advancement and nutrion/training enhancement talk these days, I for one can't understand why these superathletes of today can't play as much as the athletes of 20 years ago. The minutes per game are at an all time low, and it's not because of foul trouble or an increase in in-game activity.

Thoughts?

Maybe it's due to the rise of role players and specialized rotations.

There's no reason to burn Curry out in the 4th quarter if you win the game.

Someone like LeBron will get more minutes because he can lead the offense at the 3 or 4, over a superstar who only plays one position.

There's not 1 player taking all the minutes for a position these days like Iverson etc, he wouldn't get 43.7mpg in today's league.

[Cali Syndicate]

No. We just have better drugs.

better medical advancements too. Less career ending injuries

[Sportal]

Back in the day an ACL injury was essentially one of the worst for an athlete. See: Sam Bowie. ACL injuries were extremely hard to come back from and practically meant your career was over. Which isn't always the case these days.

Do we have better athletes today? Yes, see: athletics etc.

[Nick Young]

We have better athletes combined with better nutritionists and trainers who are capable of maxing out the athletes potential.

[90sgoat]

Back in the day an ACL injury was essentially one of the worst for an athlete. See: Sam Bowie. ACL injuries were extremely hard to come back from and practically meant your career was over. Which isn't always the case these days.

Do we have better athletes today? Yes, see: athletics etc.

Except for Usain Bolt and his records practically all athletics records are from the 90s and late 80s. I even wrote a post about it. Athletic records have not improved.

[jstern]

Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COaMKbNrX0

[HeatFanSince88]

The athletes today have bigger muscles, and focus more on short burst explosiveness. Because of this they are much more injury prone. More impact on their joints and such.

The athletes of the past had better endurance.

[Im Still Ballin]

The peak of PED/Steroid usage was in the 90's

Before they started testing in 1999

[Shih508]

It's because of PER ever since ESPN started using PER, superstars in the league tend to go for highest PER which mean few min while being all out every moment when they are on the courts. Being used like bench players.

Higher PER with less minutes play in today's era means the player is more efficient hence that player should be higher in ranking in all time list which I find it BS. I'd take 42 min from AI's 22 PER than Dwade's 35min 25 PER.