The reason why current competition is irrefutably greater than Jordan's

[8Ball]

I just tried to whisk up the GOAT international 90's team across 10 season versus NBA's current who's who. Team 90's got swallowed by 2021 France, Serbia, Australia and Germs before they were even qualified into Vegas to face team Canada. I even slipped them baby Peja class of 98

Hakeem / Dirk / Nash or Tony Parker / Manu / Peja

vs

Luca / Giannis / Jokic / Murray / Siakam


I'd take today's international team vs team all time but that's one hell of a match up. 7 game series for sure.

[scuzzy]

If you could put together something like Sabonis, Hakeem, Ewing, Drazen, Kukoc, and Detlef and hope marciulionis could play point the late 80s early 90s team would be pretty great. Late 80s you would have a lot more to work with.

You can hear Sabonis and Vlade wheezing and sucking wind from the 2 pack habit, ball watching as career bench star Patty Mills zips to his corner spot on the break for his 5th three of the half. Ewings moldy knee pads rip off mid transition like Forest Gump, the bindings weren't meant to hold this type of activity and lateral movement Pat. *splash* Embiid knocks down another open 3 with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, Hakeeem furious he has to defend near the arc. Starts malding in Nigerian, unknowing that Joel and Luka are both fluent in that as well and both use it to their advantage


The first half closes


Embiid retweets the clip of Olajawon's tantrum. 550k likes

[999Guy]

The talent pool isn't bigger but the best international players at that time largely weren't good enough to dominate in the NBA. There were some like Oscar Schmidt, Nikos Galis and Dejan Bodiroga who never came to the NBA but many came as absolute megastars and weren't that good.

I wonder why that is

[SouBeachTalents]

Hakeem / Dirk / Nash or Tony Parker / Manu / Peja

vs

Luca / Giannis / Jokic / Murray / Siakam


I'd take today's international team vs team all time but that's one hell of a match up. 7 game series for sure.

That first team would wipe the floor with today's team

[Shooter]

Great post OP, I couldn't agree more.

I always figured it was well known that the 90s was an extremely weak, watered-down era that was an embarrassing time for the NBA. Literal grocery baggers and auto mechanics were starting in all-star games and playing in the Finals.

Thank goodness we are blessed to watch the 2005+ era. Very high skilled and cream of the crop talent both U.S. and International.

[Axe]

Great post OP, I couldn't agree more.

I always figured it was well known that the 90s was an extremely weak, watered-down era that was an embarrassing time for the NBA. Literal grocery baggers and auto mechanics were starting in all-star games and playing in the Finals.

Thank goodness we are blessed to watch the 2005+ era. Very high skilled and cream of the crop talent both U.S. and International.

Weak ass era just like the 60s because only one team has won more than three rings during those respective decades.

[999Guy]

Hakeem / Dirk / Nash or Tony Parker / Manu / Peja

vs

Luca / Giannis / Jokic / Murray / Siakam


I'd take today's international team vs team all time but that's one hell of a match up. 7 game series for sure.

None of the first team guys are Jordan era, save for Hakeem. 4 played into the LeBron era.

[light]

It's not even debatable.

The expansion era from 1988 to 2004 featured some extremely weak finals teams.

[dankok8]

I think a 90's international team of Drazen/Schrempf/Kukoc/Ewing/Hakeem with Sabonis/Radja/Smits off the bench could take on the best international teams today.

[AussieSteve]

I think a 90's international team of Drazen/Schrempf/Kukoc/Ewing/Hakeem with Sabonis/Radja/Smits off the bench could take on the best international teams today.

Ewing is not an international player. He grew up in the USA was all American in HS and played for the USA in the Olympics before he played in the NBA. Like I said, are we calling Kyrie an international? If so, my point is even stronger!!

And the rest of the players didn't even have overlapping careers, let alone overlapping primes. You taking 93 Drazen with 98 Sabonis!?

Today there are 4 international players who each have a case for BITW. And another half dozen who would be given genuine all-star consideration.

[dankok8]

Ewing is not an international player. He grew up in the USA was all American in HS and played for the USA in the Olympics before he played in the NBA. Like I said, are we calling Kyrie an international? If so, my point is even stronger!!

And the rest of the players didn't even have overlapping careers, let alone overlapping primes. You taking 93 Drazen with 98 Sabonis!?

Today there are 4 international players who each have a case for BITW. And another half dozen who would be given genuine all-star consideration.

Kyrie has American ex-pat parents who lived in Melbourne when he was born. Ewing on the other hand is a full-blood Jamaican and not American. He first moved to the US when he was 12. Kyrie is clearly not international and Ewing is.

[AussieSteve]

Kyrie has American ex-pat parents who lived in Melbourne when he was born. Ewing on the other hand is a full-blood Jamaican and not American. He first moved to the US when he was 12. Kyrie is clearly not international and Ewing is.

Ewing learned to play basketball in America is my point. He wasn't recruited from an overseas league or didn't come to the US to play college ball and then got drafted.

He came into the league via the standard HS -> college-> NBA path.

[AussieSteve]

All International teams for this season

1st Team
Embiid
Jokic
Giannis
Murray
Doncic


2nd team
Gobert
Sabonis
Siakam
SGA
Simmons

3rd Team
Vucevic
Porzingis
Gallinari
Bogdnovic
Schroder

And look at all the guys that don't get in...

Adams
Horford
Gasol
Capela
Wiggins
The other Bogdanovic
Rubio
Ingles
Dragic
Ibaka
Valaciunas
Mills

Take 90% of these guys out of the league and replace them with G Leaguers... that is the NBA in the late 90s. You just can't argue with this.

It doesn't mean LeBron is better than Jordan. Or anyone is better than anyone else for that matter. It just means you can't draw too much from comparing stats, rings and accomplishments between eras because the competition was not the same.

[TheGoatest]

Oscar Schmidt at his peak was one of the best basketball players in the world.



Yet this man never played a minute in the NBA. Can you imagine Dirk Nowitzki never playing in the NBA?

Aside from the fact that NBA's two best perimeter players of the 90s played on the same Chicago Bulls team, this shows just how watered down the competition was during that era. The top perimeter players were especially extra watered down. Mark Price and Latrell Sprewell All-NBA 1st team members? Compare that to the 30+ averaging Bradley Beal not making the all-star team.

[2much_knowledge]

More competitive? Maybe
More skilled/athletic, absolutely
However, easier rules? Hell yes

The fact that little by little, they have been making small rule changes to make scoring and putting numbers easier ( handchecking, defensive 3 seconds, shorter shot clock) to name a few. You just don't know how current players would react to brutal, physical, no rely on the 3, no super team league

The fact that in the 80s, 90s, the top dogs wanted to compete, prove dominance and take each others head off you have to consider a point when talking about competitive level. Today, the first team to assemble a big 3 or 4 wins the tittle 8/10. Everybody is friendly and try to make alliances and manipulate free agency and the same 4,5 teams at the top get all the big free agents and the bad teams stay bad and never get big free agents to make it more balanced.

Back then, almost all teams had a big 1,2 punch and it was competitive

Robinson/elliot
Kemp/payton
Jordan/pippen
Stockton/malone
Webber/howard
Penny/shaq
Garnett/Marbury
Ewing/starks
Sprewell/houston
Hakeem/drexler
Thomas/Dummars
Hakeem/Sampson
Julius/moses

There were no superteams with 3 franchise players in their prime together.