I grew up a Seattle SuperSonics fan, and considering the state of the NBA right now, maybe getting the Sonics taken away was a blessing in disguise. Or maybe I’m just getting old – and I’m definitely a lapsed NBA fan – but watching today’s NBA is painful. Defense has become an alien concept to the league.
This definitely will make me sound old, but if LeBron James was playing in the ’80s or ‘90s, he wouldn’t be getting to the NBA Finals every year. And he wouldn’t be the undisputed best player in the league either.
In fact, he maybe wouldn’t even be the best player at his position.
Yeah I said it. I’m not alone either.
I would love to see how LeBron would fair against the defense of the championship Pistons teams of 1989 and 1990 that Michael Jordan had to deal with. There’s no equivalent to that in today’s NBA. Not even close.
Put any of LeBron’s championship teams up against any of the Bulls championship teams of the ‘90s, and they would have a difficult time winning a game. Let’s see how well LeBron deals with the kind of full-court pressure Pippen and Jordan used to put on teams. Put LeBron up against Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, and Dennis Rodman in their primes and see how he fares.
Watching LeBron James in today’s NBA is like watching an NBA star playing a bunch of college players. Maybe it’s because he really is that good, or because the rest of the league really is that sorry. LeBron is a great player, but he’s not GOAT great. But every Cavaliers playoff game is a big LeBron James celebration of how amazing he is.
Can no one in the league D this guy up? No one? He runs wild every game. Watching these games, it’s apparent these teams in the playoffs never have any kind of a defensive scheme to stop him, slow him down, or get in his head. Man in the arena? Easy to say that when he’s playing against a bunch of boys.
Even Michael Jordan had players who would give him fits. Joe Dumars was one of the very few players in the NBA who had success slowing Jordan down. During their prime, the whole Pistons defense was designed to stop Jordan. Gerald Wilkins was another player who had some success defensively against Jordan.
Where are today’s defensive stoppers in the NBA? Where are the Gary Paytons, the Dennis Rodmans, the Joe Dumars, the Gerald Wilkins, the Dikembe Mutombos of today’s NBA? Are there great defensive players in the today’s NBA? Do they exist? Not that I can see.
The NBA has been veering this way for decades, but there’s no longer nuance to NBA basketball. The great post players of the past are gone. Everything is about driving to the basket, three-pointers, and dunks. I don’t find it fun to watch. But apparently, I’m in the minority because the NBA is doing very well right now.
James Harden is another one. How is he an MVP candidate? Twenty-five years ago, he wouldn’t even be in the running.
Maybe I’m spoiled. I grew up watching the NBA in an era where the league was stocked full of future Hall of Fame players. And maybe LeBron is a throwback to that era in a league that has become much more offensive-oriented, and where defense is an afterthought. Because it’s astonishing to me watching LeBron James completely dominate every game, no matter who the Cavs are playing against. That didn’t happen in the era NBA era I grew up watching.
The NBA as a league used to have a fire, and a rough and tumble attitude, that seems gone. Or very minimized.
Even Michael Jordan didn’t go unchecked game after game after game. The Pistons and the Knicks threw everything they had at Jordan to shut him down and get in his head. It was incredibly fierce, and very fun to watch. I don’t see that fire in teams that play against the Cavs, even in the playoffs.
As a lapsed NBA fan, it’s kinda sad. I see no reason to invest myself as a fan in a league that has become so one-dimensional and predictable. Maybe I would feel differently if the Sonics were still around, and maybe I will feel differently if Seattle gets the Sonics back. But I can’t get excited about another Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals.
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