are we witnessing a weak era or a "balanced" 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

[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

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!