Kobe - "the rules from the ’80s can be more beneficial for us"

[Stanley Kobrick]

Known as a student of the game and a historian, Kobe made some astute comments when asked about the difference in scoring now vs the previous era (when zone defense was outlawed/heavily regulated pre-2001):



“But for scorers like myself and Carmelo and KD, the rules from the ’80s can be more beneficial for us, because you have to be played straight up. You want to double team, you got to come all the way over. So, for us, I don’t care if you hand check us with three hands. If there’s nobody behind you, you’re not going to stop us. So the zone I think cripples some of the top scorers.”


source (https://www.basketballnetwork.net/kobe-bryant-talking-about-how-modern-scorers-would-fare-in-the-80s/)



Michael Jordan (who famously was such a dominant isolation scorer that the league began to bend the rules) made similar observations in 2001:



Jordan spoke passionately. If teams were able to play zone defenses, he said, he never would have had the career he did.


source (https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-04-01-0104010375-story.html)

[FireDavidKahn]

No kidding. Back in the 80's they had bean pole white guys averaging almost 30 ppg

https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MjU5NDE3MDYwOTQzNzQ1/kiki-vandeweghe-nbajpg.jpg

[Stanley Kobrick]

No kidding. Back in the 80's they had bean pole white guys averaging almost 30 ppg

https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MjU5NDE3MDYwOTQzNzQ1/kiki-vandeweghe-nbajpg.jpg
very interesting

[Manny98]

ISO god's like KD & Kobe would for sure average 35+ in the 80s/90s

Joe Johnson would probably be a MVP caliber player in that era with those soft ass rules where you can't even properly play a zone

Same with Dinwiddie, he be absolutely unstoppable with pre zone rules

[DoctorP]

bunch of bullshit trash

[warriorfan]

Early 2000’s was the toughest era for perimeter scoring until Mark Cuban got the league to change defensive rules after the 2003-2004 season. LeBron lucked out that he got to play almost his entire career under the lax new environment created by rule changes.

[Overdrive]

Zone would be tough if it was real zone and defensive 3 seconds weren't a thing. This is garbage that allows for every guy with somewhat of a hanle score at free will. The moment you break your first defender you can do whatever the **** you want. It's cool that you can shadow lanes, but how is a guy like Steven Adams gonna stop a quick guard from getting to the hoop 10 ft+ out?

[LostCause]

You guys are aware the NBA literally made it clear first in 01 then again in 2005 they were making rule changes to increase scoring, efficiency and open the game up by making it more free flowing?

[Docs Orders]

No kidding. Back in the 80's they had bean pole white guys averaging almost 30 ppg

https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MjU5NDE3MDYwOTQzNzQ1/kiki-vandeweghe-nbajpg.jpg

:roll:

[ralph_i_el]

No kidding. Back in the 80's they had bean pole white guys averaging almost 30 ppg

https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MjU5NDE3MDYwOTQzNzQ1/kiki-vandeweghe-nbajpg.jpg

Shooting from deep is the great equalizer.

[jstern]

Kobe has also said that the modern rules, post 2005 makes it easier for lesser players. The game is simplified for them, gives them the option to average a lot more points than they would otherwise, and in turn not as big of a benefit to actual skilled players like him. It's making stars out of scrubs.

So while the rule changes made have added two extra PPG for him, in reality those two extra points hurt him because it's not scaling his value the same way.

So basically he's saying is the top, skillful players can play in any era, while the lesser players can't. In my opinion a player the caliber of Kobe Bryant would be more valuable in the 90s, because the rules hurt the lesser players that can pickup the slack in this era.

[Stanley Kobrick]

ISO god's like KD & Kobe would for sure average 35+ in the 80s/90s

Joe Johnson would probably be a MVP caliber player in that era with those soft ass rules where you can't even properly play a zone

Same with Dinwiddie, he be absolutely unstoppable with pre zone rules
very interesting