Was the NBA truly better back then or are we all just nostalgic?

[smoovegittar]

I enjoy it just as much now. It evolves; you can't go back.

[305Baller]

Not to mention unless I'm hallucinating we all saw some of the fu*king worst basketball in a long time during these past playoffs.


People are mistaking athleticism, individual talent for "better basketball".


You've got guards right now (and a good amount) that cannot make a midrange jump shot. What seems like too many that cannot shoot free throws. And footwork is becoming scarce.


I don't know if it's because kids are coming in too young or what but it's showing.

A ton of players shoot 3s more consistently than midrange .Forget contested shots

You are right. Shitty playoffs.

[DonDadda59]

I don't know if it's because kids are coming in too young or what but it's showing.

Definitely a big part of it. Back in the day, guys who were drafted were expected to be finished products or close to it coming out of 3-4 years in College. NBA coaches really don't have the time or patience to teach guys how to play basketball. Players nowadays who are one and dones are drafted mainly on potential, not on what they have proven they can do by draft night. So it's a really mixed bag.

For guys to get drafted that young before, they had to be transcendent, once in a generation/lifetime players. Kobe was the first guard drafted out of high school (was highly touted but only drafted 13th) and KG (5th pick) was the first HS player drafted since Moses Malone. Both guys had to go through serious growing pains their first few seasons.

After those guys panned out (along with the likes of T-Mac), teams started going overboard with drafting straight out of HS and we ended up with guys like Kwame Brown, Sebastian Telfair, DaJuan Wagner being drafted high without even playing against D-3 level talent... then of course the league needed to find somewhere to put all the potential projects and busts that were not NBA ready, hence the birth of the D-League.

[ArbitraryWater]

Its impossible to really tell. Nostalgia plays a huge part.

60s- end of the golden era. High skills with average athleticism. Guys that were very athletic could dominate with decent skills.

70s - athletic infusion. Skills were at a high level since skills were all there was for the league beforehand.

80's - peak of skills before the obsession with athleticism that led to strong streetball but weak elite talent.

90's - worst era in modern times. Uncreative offense because of bad skill levels and trends in slower defensive games. Jordan's 80s influence put him over the top.

00's - with Jordan gone, the league had to open it up for less skilled players to flourish. Luckily, new players with skills came in at the same time.

10's - Shooting is back and the league has a lot of skilled players but its perimeter based and not at the 80s level. Fast-tempo is flourishing but now the inside game is suffering and some think the center position is dead. Also lack of inside game and spoiled rich players are bringing a whitecollar primadonna attitude to the game.

this is a different look at it..