Article from 1996 talking about how weak and diluted the NBA has become

[1987_Lakers]

[GimmeThat]

besides the obvious sentiments that if the statements were true, then NCAA championships would be the most predictable tournament of all time. yet, hadn't seen any one of them getting it right 100%.

or the intellectual standpoint in which, if the NBA isn't producing any doctors, then the whole weak/strong era argument is nullified, since they're just being carried onto the court for 48 min of game time stretched out into near 2 hours of 'entertainment'

truth be told, there really are only 2 types of voices allowed on air. and so far, the following/follower set up has seen to triumph over the like option.

in short, all you see is Sloan/Rodman going "how the hell are these people just getting paid compared to what I make and had been making"

[Lebron23]

It's only nostalgia that made the mid to late 1990's look better compared to the current era.

[Manny98]

90s was the weakest era ever, we all know this but these delusional Jordan stans won't accept it

[86Celtics]

90s was the weakest era ever, we all know this but these delusional Jordan stans won't accept it

Who is we? You and a bunch of adolescents?

[Manny98]

Who is we? You and a bunch of adolescents?

Everyone with high basketball knowledge and isn't biased

[86Celtics]

But you're biased. And as far as your intellect goes, I'll let others be the judge of that.

[brutalBBQ]

its like saying Rafael Nadal is better than Rodger Federer
Bob Burquist over Tony Hawk, its a controversial opinion but GOAT

[Manny98]

But you're biased. And as far as your intellect goes, I'll let others be the judge of that.

Are Ron Boone, Rodman and everyone else that's said the 90s era is weak af biased as well

It's not even an opinion it's a fact that the 90s was watered down due to multiple expansion drafts

[PP34Deuce]

96 was a transition period. small market teams slowly began getting talent toward the end of the 3 peat. Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Kobe, Ray Allen, Marbury, Dirk, Nash, Pierce, Vince Carter, Tmac were slowly coming and bringing excitement and competitiveness.

[PP34Deuce]

lol great comparison. I've always seen Bob as the GOAT all around guy while Tony is GOAT vert and just has a gravity that made him explode.

[Roundball_Rock]

Not sure why people can't see the dilution. The rosters are obvious. How good would a team be with Reggie Miller as their best player today or in the 80's? Put it another way, how good would a team today be with Klay Thompson as their #1?

[LostCause]

The league was obviously watered down. Don’t think I anyone disagrees with that. However people tying that into Jordan are forgetting that if that didn’t occur, MJs own teams would be stronger. So his legacy would very likely remain the same

That said, the 90s isn’t usually thought of as just the decade as a whole. There were pretty big differences in the NBA post-95/96 and pre-94. The “Golden Age” of the NBA usually refers to the mid/late 80s to early 90s. Late 90s were bad comparatively. The early 2000s were much worse than the late 90s. However the 70s are generally referred to as the weakest era overall due to a multitude of different reasons. Skill, Drugs, Expansion etc. This is before most players could play basketball and make a living so a lot of them held part-time jobs or other careers alongside basketball. The cocaine epidemic was at it's worst in the NBA during this period, and the league expanded with twice as many times during this period (67-80) than it did during the 90s (7 from 81-Today, 14 from 67-80). That includes 4 ABA teams in 76.

This list goes into more detail on it (2010s not included as it was made in 2012 but he does state it's shaping up to be one of the best)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...in-nba-history

[HoopsNY]

Not sure why people can't see the dilution. The rosters are obvious. How good would a team be with Reggie Miller as their best player today or in the 80's? Put it another way, how good would a team today be with Klay Thompson as their #1?

Pascal Siakam is the Raptors' best player and they have a .719 win %. If you surround Miller with the Raptors' supporting cast, why wouldn't they do similar? Miller's PPG Per 100 in 1996-97 was 31.8. Siakam's is the same in 2019-20, with a much higher league pace and league ppg average.

[sportjames23]

I still have this kid on a leash.