The NBA....it used to be better

El Kabong · 03-15-2009 08:01 PM

People these days are acting like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, et al are just the greatest players ever and I am just here to tell everyone that those guys have a LOOOOOOONG way to go. You can name me any player playing right now and I could name maybe 5 guys playing the same position who did it better back in the day.

I give credit to Kobe and Lebron being the best we have right now but in now way shape or form are they as good as past stars!

El Kabong · 03-15-2009 08:07 PM

Oh and just as an example recently Lebron James established a special stat, he now has 30 PPG vs the Milwaukee Bucks....the last guy to hold such a record (after a certain number of games played vs a team) was Michael Jordan..........and he averaged 30+ PPG vs 14 teams in the NBA, that also includes his comeback with the Wizards as well.

**RP33** · 03-15-2009 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by Lyle

Oh and just as an example recently Lebron James established a special stat, he now has 30 PPG vs the Milwaukee Bucks....the last guy to hold such a record (after a certain number of games played vs a team) was Michael Jordan..........and he averaged 30+ PPG vs 14 teams in the NBA, that also includes his comeback with the Wizards as well.

MJ has to be the exception though.. No one who has any wits is saying that Kobe or Lebron are better than MJ.. MJ is a smarter/faster Kobe with a better jumper.. Dude didn't miss.

Lebron is amazing because of his size. He's an absolute beast, the size of an NFL linebacker with a ridiculous amount of talent. He is dynamic because normally size mostly matters when you're a 4 or 5, not a 3.. With the exception of the above average in height point guard of Magic Johnson.

Anyone who thinks Kobe or Lebron are the best ever to play the game are probably younger kids growing up with these guys.. they don't know any better..

El Kabong · 03-16-2009 12:12 AM

MJ was also a great TEAM player, he didn't have to do it all and the Bulls had some very good role players on those Championship teams but imagining what MJ would have done with Shaq, Gasol, Odom, even old Gary Payton and Karl Malone is amazing.....as Magic Johnson said "There is Michael Jordan and then there is everybody else" or maybe as Larry Bird said after MJ dropped a playoff record 63 on the 1986 Boston Celtics (a great team) "God disguised as Michael Jordan"

I would take any number of players over Lebron....sure he's a physical specimine but so were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, both FAR BETTER than Lebron at any position 1-5.

Kobe and Lebron are great sure but they aren't as special as some of the LEGENDS. Those guys will become legends but to me they just do have the "IT" factor that most people want out of like Heavyweight boxing champions.....when Jordan, Magic, or Bird had to take a game over they saddled up and did it and there were times when they made it look awfully easy and this was waaaaaay long before the talent got diluted by The Bobcats, Raptors, Grizzlies, etc..

Kobe dropped 81 on the Toronto Raptors and people talk about it as if Michael Jordan could never do that or anyone else for that matter. Pete Maravich lit up the 1977 New York Knicks for 68 and that was without the benefit of a 3-point line!!!

**boozeboxer** · 03-16-2009 02:00 AM

I do see your point, but I think that basketball players are getting better in general. Also I think your views are bathed in nostalgia.

El Kabong · 03-16-2009 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by boozeboxer

I do see your point, but I think that basketball players are getting better in general. Also I think your views are bathed in nostalgia.

Players are no doubt benefitting from better training and advances in healthcare etc. but you can take the 2008 Olympic team and the 1992 Olympic team and bar Christian Lattner I would take anyone from the '92 team over anyone from the '08 team

Nostalgia or not the legends deserve their respect!

**RP33** · 03-16-2009 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Lyle

MJ was also a great TEAM player, he didn't have to do it all and the Bulls had some very good role players on those Championship teams but imagining what MJ would have done with Shaq, Gasol, Odom, even old Gary Payton and Karl Malone is amazing.....as Magic Johnson said "There is Michael Jordan and then there is everybody else" or maybe as Larry Bird said after MJ dropped a playoff record 63 on the 1986 Boston Celtics (a great team) "God disguised as Michael Jordan"

I would take any number of players over Lebron....sure he's a physical specimine but so were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, both FAR BETTER than Lebron at any position 1-5.

Kobe and Lebron are great sure but they aren't as special as some of the LEGENDS. Those guys will become legends but to me they just do have the "IT" factor that most people want out of like Heavyweight boxing champions.....when Jordan, Magic, or Bird had to take a game over they saddled up and did it and there were times when they made it look awfully easy and this was waaaaaay long before the talent got diluted by The Bobcats, Raptors, Grizzlies, etc..

Kobe dropped 81 on the Toronto Raptors and people talk about it as if Michael Jordan could never do that or anyone else for that matter. Pete Maravich lit up the 1977 New York Knicks for 68 and that was without the benefit of a 3-point line!!!

So, in reference to this post and the thread title, you are generally saying that the talent pool currently in the NBA is inferior to those times in the past, correct?

That's a tough assumption to make. I'm only 23, but i've watched the NBA since intellectually possible.. I remember the Jordan days and all of the Bulls fans at school etc.. It's tough to compare the generations.

I think that most of the hype comes from exactly what you previously stated. The whole persona thing. Lebron/Kobe are a great face for the NBA currently. Everyone knows who they are. The NBA is still a business, and in my opinion they're doing a great job.

The first person (i believe) to come into the NBA straight from high school, they tried to market the hell out of him. and it failed miserably. Without using google, tell me who you think it is.

But lebron on the other hand, among VARIOUS other real young players, have the marketability for my age group and younger. Which is why i think the NBA as a business is booming. When Lebron comes to play the Celtics, it's impossible to get a ticket. Everyone wants to see him throw the powder into the air at the scorers table and be a part of it. It's become more of a media machine than maybe the pure talent driven business it used to be. With that said, I don't think it's out of hand or that anything is really fabricated to hide anyone who isn't talented, it just has become a bit more mainstream and marketable.