Stephen A. and Skip deconstructing the relaity of Today's NBA versus the 80's

[Showtime80']

God I enjoyed this!!! As much as I love Jordan, the NBA went overboard in the 90's with the protection of star players after they realized how much money they could make marketing individuals instead of teams. In the 80's even mega stars like Magic, Bird and Michael had to hit the deck and pay their dues, no room for SOFT BS!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSOeXP8H0hM

Another thing the league has lost is hard core RIVALRIES thanks to this new SOFT focus. Nobody hates each other anymore and that's taken away a lot from the intensity of the matchups.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Yea, it became too soft, at least when compared to back in the day...

You can say society in general though, and it reflects onto sports and such, and the other way around too.

[Lebron23]

1980's = high scoring era. The defense in the NBA improved after the Pistons won the NBA championship in the 1960's by beating the past NBA Champions (Lakers, and Celtics), and future NBA Champion (Bulls).

[GIF REACTION]

Players adapt to the environment

These players aren't any more soft than the ones in the 80's and 90's

The league is just softer (RULES)

[Showtime80']

1980's= The last era were fundamentals, basketball IQ and skills were the MOST IMPORTANT qualities for players. It resulted in quick hitting offenses lead by pass first PG's and TRUE centers! The Bad Boy Pistons could still score 110 points a game but they purposely slowed the game down to compete with Showtime, Celtics and Michael!

1990's= Invasion of the new school with the focus on ATHLETISISM above all else resulting in decay of the product on the floor culminating with the unbearable early 2000's era with teams being lead by low 40% shooting perimeter players that resulted in anemic offensive games.

Don't forget that teams became EASIER to defend in the 90's thanks to the increase in salaries and subsequent cap. Teams could no longer afford 3rd and 4th options as talented as the 1980's team could thus the 1 man and 2 man offenses surrounded by role players became the norm.

[ballinhun8]

Another thing the league has lost is hard core RIVALRIES thanks to this new SOFT focus. Nobody hates each other anymore and that's taken away a lot from the intensity of the matchups.

^ The above is definitely true. I think it is why we as fans of the sport actually enjoy certain more games and players than others.

My Bulls players don't like the buddy buddy stuff and that's what makes me like them more. Butler, Noah, Rose have the old school mentality that appeals to the older generation of fans. It's why I and other knowledgeable posters like Kobe now more than before because he's one of the last of the 90's era players that we grew up on. He is still about rivalries, doesn't like certain guys or teams.

[atljonesbro]

No defense era

[90sgoat]

1980's= The last era were fundamentals, basketball IQ and skills were the MOST IMPORTANT qualities for players. It resulted in quick hitting offenses lead by pass first PG's and TRUE centers! The Bad Boy Pistons could still score 110 points a game but they purposely slowed the game down to compete with Showtime, Celtics and Michael!

1990's= Invasion of the new school with the focus on ATHLETISISM above all else resulting in decay of the product on the floor culminating with the unbearable early 2000's era with teams being lead by low 40% shooting perimeter players that resulted in anemic offensive games.

Don't forget that teams became EASIER to defend in the 90's thanks to the increase in salaries and subsequent cap. Teams could no longer afford 3rd and 4th options as talented as the 1980's team could thus the 1 man and 2 man offenses surrounded by role players became the norm.

The lines of demarcation in the NBA are more like this:

1975 - 3 point shot/ABA era changing the game to a more uptempo pace. The Dr. J era. Era of Bird, Magic and those guys inspired by ABA uptempo ball. Coke, disco and fighting.

1985 - Birth of the televised athletic generation, who grew up watching TV and therefore having more uniform skills in terms of shooting form and dribbling skills. Athletic ability coupled with great skill. Last generation of NBA ballers from intact households.

1995 - Wanna Be Like Mike generation of every guard wanting to be MJ (not Magic) and big men who also want to be MJ (Garnett) and not want to be Kareem or Bird. Listening to Fresh Prince and grew up with single moms who taught them bs (Chris Webber).

2005 - Soft as charmin And1 generation. Grew up on hip hop and Allen Iverson. Only want to do ankle breakers and bang hoes with hottentot big asses. Listening to Lil Wayne and posting crap on social media all the time.

2015 - Birth of professional athletes from birth, groomed to be players by former players, now more like a factory delivering products to the entertainment business.

[senelcoolidge]

The NBA was tougher before the Bad Boys. I was not a fan of the Pistons. They just purposely tried to hurt people. The game was always physical and tough until the last 10 or more years when it's just become soft like putty. It's not real basketball anymore..it's just entertainment/circus masked as basketball.

[TripleA]

The lines of demarcation in the NBA are more like this:

1975 - 3 point shot/ABA era changing the game to a more uptempo pace. The Dr. J era. Era of Bird, Magic and those guys inspired by ABA uptempo ball. Coke, disco and fighting.

1985 - Birth of the televised athletic generation, who grew up watching TV and therefore having more uniform skills in terms of shooting form and dribbling skills. Athletic ability coupled with great skill. Last generation of NBA ballers from intact households.

1995 - Wanna Be Like Mike generation of every guard wanting to be MJ (not Magic) and big men who also want to be MJ (Garnett) and not want to be Kareem or Bird. Listening to Fresh Prince and grew up with single moms who taught them bs (Chris Webber).

2005 - Soft as charmin And1 generation. Grew up on hip hop and Allen Iverson. Only want to do ankle breakers and bang hoes with hottentot big asses. Listening to Lil Wayne and posting crap on social media all the time.

2015 - Birth of professional athletes from birth, groomed to be players by former players, now more like a factory delivering products to the entertainment business.

The trash in this post is too hard to handle.
Early 2000s players soft you are actually stupid.
You could say their have bad skills or low basketball iq
But toughness.

[90sgoat]

The NBA was tougher before the Bad Boys. I was not a fan of the Pistons. They just purposely tried to hurt people. The game was always physical and tough until the last 10 or more years when it's just become soft like putty. It's not real basketball anymore..it's just entertainment/circus masked as basketball.

I just watched the Bad Boys play the Celtics on Youtube full game. Bad Boys didn't seem particularly violent, no doubt they were unfair towards MJ but nothing suggests from that game they were some kind of psycopath team. Maybe that game was just an outlier though?

[ralph_i_el]

Didn't watch, didn't read the OP. I don't care which side of the agenda they are on. Skip and Stephen A don't understand basketball on a functional level.

[Showtime80']

Damn 90's Goat! Great summary!

I would say the Wanna Be like Mike generation was the SOLE KILLER of the dominant back to the basket center. People like to spew nonsense about rule changes destroying the true center position, BS!!! The classic center position started dying back in the mid 90's with the new generation of big guys like Garnett, Webber, Rasheed Wallace, Nowitzy etc... preferring to face the basket in the perimeter rather than bang like a true big down low both on offense and defense. The NBA was FORCED to change the rules to make life easier for the new perimeter oriented players, the rules were a REACTION more than anything else.

[90sgoat]

Damn 90's Goat! Great summary!

I would say the Wanna Be like Mike generation was the SOLE KILLER of the dominant back to the basket center. People like to spew nonsense about rule changes destroying the true center position, BS!!! The classic center position started dying back in the mid 90's with the new generation of big guys like Garnett, Webber, Rasheed Wallace, Nowitzy etc... preferring to face the basket in the perimeter rather than bang like a true big down low both on offense and defense. The NBA was FORCED to change the rules to make life easier for the new perimeter oriented players, the rules were a REACTION more than anything else.

It's true, the Wanna Be Like Mike was a real phenomenon! And yes, probably had the most to do with the big center dissapearing, it happened before the rule changes, the late 90s was completely devoid of back to basket center rookies. Who is Dirk Nowitsky but some german kid who idolized Michael Jordan and made his own fadeaway?

Michael Jordan was a worldwide cultural phenomonen, here he is filming Jam with Michael Jackson who at the time wasn't known as a pedo, but as the biggest pop idol the world had ever seen. Perhaps the biggest pop star there ever was. And Michael Jackson was notoriously shy, but for Michael Jordan he'd make an exception.

I mean, you know, but these kids don't fully understand that MJ was a WORLDWIDE phenomenon like no athlete had been before.

And that made every baller want to be like him, there was no other real choice. Who you gonna be? Mike of course. In a weird way, Michael Jordan destroyed the NBA because he won as a shooting guard, something that had almost never been done before.

I got to say I watched some of the Pistons-Celtics games and that kind of basketball was superior to most of the 90s. Imo, NBA clearly peaked from 1985-1995. Even the last 3peat had significant drop in quality.

[senelcoolidge]

I just watched the Bad Boys play the Celtics on Youtube full game. Bad Boys didn't seem particularly violent, no doubt they were unfair towards MJ but nothing suggests from that game they were some kind of psycopath team. Maybe that game was just an outlier though?

They were not psychopaths. They were a great legitimate defensive team. But they would hurt you.