Evolution of the center in the past 10+ years or so ...

[L.Kizzle]

List of every center selected for an All-Star birth since 2010 (minus Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol and Kevin Garnett. Who were listed as centers when they made All-Star appearances in those seasons. True PF.)


Besides Dwight, Marc and Horford the first half of the 2010s featured mainly one and done All-Stars (Chandler, Noah and Lopez were All-Stars the same season in the same conference in 2013. Probably the weakest set of All-Star centers ever.) For comparison, the 1995 All-Star game featured Ewing, Zo and Shaq on the East with Mutombo, Hakeem and Robinson on the West. Six Hall of Fame centers.


Dwight Howard
Al Horford
David Lee
Chris Kaman
Andrew Bynum
Roy Hibert
Marc Gasol
Tyson Chandler
Jokim Noah
Brook Lopez


The 2nd half of the 2010s, you see the emergence of the stretch center (is that a thing?) You still have paint only guys like Jordan, Drummond and Rudy. But they majority of them are floor spacers now.


DeMarcus Cousins
Andre Drummond
DeAndre Jordan
Joel Embid
Karl Anthony-Town
Nikola Jokic
Nikola Vucevic
Rudy Gobert
Bam Adebayo

[L.Kizzle]

What do y'all think the next crop of centers will look like?
A return to the paint or continue the inside/outside play?

[Dbrog]

Your thread aint about Bron which is why no one is posting...also all his nut huggers are like...13yo and don't have any clue what you're talking about.

I think it's a good thread though. For me, Embiid, Gobert, AD, Jokic, and maybe Ayton are the only "modern centers" who are worth even mentioning after the Post-Yao centers. The rest now are either trash but in there for rebounding, or they shoot 3s like guards. I remember laughing when Dwight started to become an "allstar" in the NBA but whenever he faced Yao or semi-old Shaq, he would get absolutely slaughted and have like...9/8/2 as his statline. I knew the Center or even PF position was never going to be how it once was, or at least not for a long time.

I'll expand on this in a bit...

[rawimpact]

A big is more skilled now than ever. There are some things todays bigs lack, like footwork, post-moves generally speaking, but the good ones, have it all.

They can shoot the 3, post moves, set screens etc. (Giannis, Davis, Nikola and Embiid). In the 2010s and earlier there were some bigs that could do that, but they were undersized bigs not true centers

[RogueBorg]

A big is more skilled now than ever. There are some things todays bigs lack, like footwork, post-moves generally speaking, but the good ones, have it all.

They can shoot the 3, post moves, set screens etc. (Giannis, Davis, Nikola and Embiid). In the 2010s and earlier there were some bigs that could do that, but they were undersized bigs not true centers

This thread is about centers. And just because a center can shoot a three doesn't make him more skilled. Shaq, Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, and Mourning would make Jokic wet his pants. The only center today that matches up with those guys is Embiid.

[Dbrog]

Giannis is a great example of why you're at a disadvantage if you play center with contact nowadays. He was getting truly hacked almost everytime he touched the ball in the paint but wouldn't get the whistle many of those times. Compare this to the perimeter players who do a pull through, jump into the defender, or stiffarm their defender and the DEFENDER gets called for the foul. Clearly the NBA is trying to incentive perimeter play. Because of this, I just don't see things going back to the way they were. Ironically enough, maybe the USA team getting eliminated 1st round from the Olympics due to having to play real basketball might incentive the NBA to return to a more traditional game. I'd personally love to see this as I love watching great defensive teams or that "playoff basketball" where refs swallow their whistle at times

[rawimpact]

This thread is about centers. And just because a center can shoot a three doesn't make him more skilled. Shaq, Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, and Mourning would make Jokic wet his pants. The only center today that matches up with those guys is Embiid.

So you picked two top 10 players of all time from the 90s and 00s and said current centers are worse? No shit dumbass...

But speaking overall - the average center of the era, they were garbage.