20 Reasons Why the NBA Was Better in the '90s

[KyleKong]

Not sure if trolling or serious but, I'll take the bait.

LeShortcut is a contributing factor to a shitty era.

Don't be mad.

[Nevaeh]

Why I think the 90s (basketball only) was the best.

It was a combination of the best of 80s and 2k era.

It was a clear evolution of the sport, not in terms of media attention and global impact but the way the game was played.

You had 80s fundamentals, team play, coaching, toughness, rules,
You had the 2k era athleticism, nutrition, evolution of certain skills

You combine the best of the best attributes and that's what you get.

The 80s also saw drug abuse (early 80s), players didn't take care of their bodies properly (society and medicine as a whole was backwards.... people thought Coca Cola was actually good for you, smoking wasn't bad, etc.etc.)

The 2k era saw the decline of 'team' play and younger immature (ball related) players with lack of experience. No true veteran leadership (something that even Tmac addressed on Open Court), watered down rules that inflate stats.

Yeah, it seemed like the League basically panicked during the mid 00s, with those rule changes that basically made EVERYBODY soft. The guys that wanted to play tough D, but weren't allowed to, combined with soft-minded perimeter players now looking for the whistle on every play, made for some tedious ass boring match ups..

It was like that "balance" you mentioned was thrown so out of wack, that it looked like the League would never recover. Fortunately it's starting to level out again, but the 90s will always be looked at as the "perfect storm" for the League, IMO. The fact that it was the most popular era for the NBA was no fluke either.

[Nevaeh]

Vlade Divac was a flopper too. Hell, he might be the king of flopping from all big men.

True, but his "floppestry" didn't really kick in until his King days in the early 00s, which in turn inspired Derek Fisher to go from a "gutsy defender" to a flop call seeker himself. Divac, more than anybody, also contributed to the "soft euro" stereotype that overseas players are still trying to overcome.

[andgar923]

Yeah, it seemed like the League basically panicked during the mid 00s, with those rule changes that basically made EVERYBODY soft. The guys that wanted to play tough D, but weren't allowed to, combined with soft-minded perimeter players now looking for the whistle on every play, made for some tedious ass boring match ups..

It was like that "balance" you mentioned was thrown so out of wack, that it looked like the League would never recover. Fortunately it's starting to level out again, but the 90s will always be looked at as the "perfect storm" for the League, IMO. The fact that it was the most popular era for the NBA was no fluke either.

I don't blame today's players for being soft 'as much'. YES some are soft, but some are taking advantage of the rules, and that I don't blame them for. Luckily the league has tried to address this with fines, hopefully the league will get back on track 3 years from now

[moaz]

My main reason:

There were no bball internet message boards (at least for the most part)

[tomtucker]

the one thing current nba has, is better tv quality.........you can better see the details

[Kovach]

classic rosy rememberance, half of the teams were just unwatchable back then. the talent per team is much higher now

Modern league has at least 10 early 90's Minnesota Timberwolves