Basketball's golden age- 60s, 80s or 90s?

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Golden age was from the late 80's to early-mid 90's.

This decade that features KD, Wade, Lebron, Rose, Westbrook, Paul, Blake, Love, etc. have some serious firepower though.

This decade may give the magic/bird rivalry a run though with okc and miami featuring james/durant. Both players are a perfect contrast of each other. With james being the bad guy (like it or not ) and durant being the good guy

So you think the 80's >>> 90's, '97?

[blablabla]

@ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...





I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's

this

[Soundwave]

@ the kids in here...

Magic and Bird's rivalry was something that has and never will be duplicated..it tranceneded the sport and made the NBA what it is...

for those who did not live through it or remember it...I am truly sorry..

It was by far the greatest era and the greatest act in NBA's History.

1980 - 1990 the greatest age, the Golden age wahtever you want to call it...






I don't care what Nike says.....Kobe , MJ or Lebron are great stories....and some great basketball.



but it never got better then Bird vs Magic , Lakers vs Celtics in the 80's

Well that and the 80s still did have Jordan and the Bulls were even competitive by the late 80s too. Yeah they were still too raw to beat the Pistons, but the Pistons were also beating up on the Celtics, Lakers, Blazers, etc. too.

By 1988 or so Jordan was probably the most popular NBA player.

[97 bulls]

Golden age was from the late 80's to early-mid 90's.

This decade that features KD, Wade, Lebron, Rose, Westbrook, Paul, Blake, Love, etc. have some serious firepower though.



So you think the 80's >>> 90's, '97?

I've always argued against the the assumption that the bulls were overrated cuz the talent in the 90s was weak. However, I do realize that the bulls rivalries just weren't on the level of the lakers/celtics. Mainly cuz the bulls never lost. And when they did lose, they came back the next year with a vengence. They lost to detroit in 90, came back and swept them in 91, they lost to orlando in 95, came back and swept them in 96. The only real rivalry the bulls had year in and out was new york, and you can't really call that a rivalry cuz the knicks barely beat the bulls without jordan and never beat them at full strength.

Saying that, I don't believe the talent level has been better or worse in any decade besides the 70s.

[Yanch856]

2010-2020 is going to be the best decade of NBA ball ever imo.

Yes I believe this too!

TBH globally I think Jeremy Lin as a commercial product is already more popular than Mike in absolute terms. 1. Due to the internet 2. China.

But my only bash is that NBA has been dumbed down a lot. The average intellectual age of the league drops 1y/o with every passing year. People in the 30s enjoyed NBA in the 90s. Nowadays 15y/os love the game. I mean I wouldn't call basketball the thinking man's sport anymore.

[WillC]

'83 - '93.

Yup, pretty much.

[SwooshReturns]

'86-'93.

In terms of the SPORT of basketball ... meaning when it truly was a game, and not a PRODUCT. This is the only correct answer.

It had an incredible amount of star players, great TEAM game, physicality, ACTUAL rivalries, no AAU brotherhood between players, ACTUAL competitive nature.

In terms of the stylized, marketed, packaged fast food version of "basketball" aka the product of marketing, with the rule changes built to help the game's popularity, etc.

2006 - current

Because even though the game has become streamlined, and built for marketing purposes (shoes, fantasy sports, etc) there is a lot of great HOF caliber star players in the game.

[JustinJDW]

'83 - '93.

This.

[mlh1981]

Basketball's golden age was when we were kids. I would assume for many, that's when we are the most interested, and fascinated, by the product. We gain more knowledge as we get older, but also get more cynical.

[Yanch856]

In terms of the SPORT of basketball ... meaning when it truly was a game, and not a PRODUCT. This is the only correct answer.

It had an incredible amount of star players, great TEAM game, physicality, ACTUAL rivalries, no AAU brotherhood between players, ACTUAL competitive nature.

In terms of the stylized, marketed, packaged fast food version of "basketball" aka the product of marketing, with the rule changes built to help the game's popularity, etc.

2006 - current

Because even though the game has become streamlined, and built for marketing purposes (shoes, fantasy sports, etc) there is a lot of great HOF caliber star players in the game.

Also, it depends on which world perspective you take:

From USA's point of view, 1992 was the year the Dream Team won every single game in the Olympics to the gold medal. US players were treated like rock stars stepping off the team coach in Barcelona. Players from opposing team asked for Mike's autographs after being beat by 60 points (Angola).

From the world's point of view, now as many as 1/3 of the NBA is "foreign" players. Dream team became Redeem team. Manu, Parker, AK, Gasol, Rubio, Yao, Lin. So... basketball is more of a global game now. "World Champs" is not as synonymous with NBA champs as it was 10-20yrs ago.

Also, if you are referring to the NBA itself, you could hardly call 80s the golden age of basketball. Bird and Magic only barely saved NBA from the mess that was ABA. I'd call it nostalgia at best. The rivalry was the sequal to Bird/Magic college rivalry anyway.

I mean, with the American president following ESPN highlights of Lin, (and actually, texting Battier to congratulate him after game 3 Rockets win against the Lakers in the WCF 2009), how can you say NBA is on the decline??

[Round Mound]

All 80s and somewhat Early 90s

[HighFlyer23]

80s until the end of the Jordan era

[Mr. I'm So Rad]

2000s

[SwooshReturns]

So... basketball is more of a global game now. "World Champs" is not as synonymous with NBA champs as it was 10-20yrs ago.

Only for a short period of time when USA players became complacent and didn't treat world competition seriously.

You do realize from 2007 - current, Team USA has b1tch smacked the competition, right?

Regardless of the close Gold Medal Game (we beat Spain the previous game in the Olympics by 35 points), we have won convincingly. The 2010 FIBA was like our C-team at the time. And we still won fairly easily.

It's just the game and it's players are more accessible, so players in other countries can watch them and study them more. So therefore the players aren't treated with shock and awe when they step on the floor to face them.

I don't buy that talent has become better worldwide.

That Yugoslavia Team the 1992 Dream Team faced in the Gold Medal Game is as good or better than ANY Spain, Argentina team I've seen in the past 8 - 10 years.

I mean, with the American president following ESPN highlights of Lin, (and actually, texting Battier to congratulate him after game 3 Rockets win against the Lakers in the WCF 2009), how can you say NBA is on the decline??

Because much like the SOFT rule changes implemented in the NFL, the same rule changes applied to the NBA. They were made to streamline the game, increase offensive numbers and production ... thus creating interest worldwide. It's a product now, and is marketed as such.

AAU mentality between players, lack of physicality reducing the number of actual INTENSE rivalries between players and teams. It's become less and less a sport, and more just a form of entertainment.

The same no touch rules on permiter players, is the equivelent to the NFL where you can't touch recievers past 5 yards (back in the day you could bump them whenever) ... can't BREATH on QBs. And if those QBs were allowed to be hit, it does something psychologically to intimidate them to keep them from attempting future passes without being anxious or nervous. THAT'S a sport.

The rule changes in both sports are made to MANUFACTURE more star players, thus creating more interest int he game.

When it was just a sport, and the rules didn't cater offensive (highlight, casual fan creating interest) sensibilities ... we had LESS stars, but they were ACTUAL superstar players.

Would you dare say Drew Brees is better than Dan Marino even though he broke his total season yardage achievment? No ... it's easier to throw the ball around now. When Aaron Rodgers (the MVP) his replacement comes in for a SINGLE game and chucks it for 300+ yards (when that used to be a rarity and actual achievment) ... you just KNOW things are messed up.

Sports are pure entertainment now ... nothing less.

I'd say around the mid 2000's with the boom of the internet era, media coverage, global visibility of all games and the attempted expansion into foreign markets (the NBA to China, NFL to Europe) ... the game has been streamlined to become an entertaining product, built to SELL.

In the TV era, which ended in the early 2000's, and then everyone became WAY more cynical. Sports were ... well sports. That isn't nostalgia talking ... that's truth. Just watch the damn games from just 8 years ago, they hardly resemble the same actual athletic competitions.

[PTB Fan]

80's.

I get the feeling that the 70's.. are underrated nowadays though. They were pretty strong.