I knew I should have elaborated more. Lol
I come from the ghetto so I over compensate lol.
Pretty interesting post. I was a huuuge NBA fan for most of my life. My time watching the game earnestly started in the mid 70"s. I loved that era, Dr J was the epitome of entertainment in my eyes. I enjoyed the evolution of the game as it became very different through the Jordan years to the early LeBron years. I watched pretty regularly up through LeBron's championship with the Cavs in '16. At that point the game's entertainment level began to fall off. Technically the game has probably gotten better, but the level of entertainment has fallen way off for me. I try every season to give it a go, but it just doesn't hold my interest they way it used to. It's boring.
I'm bias, but my favorite time was watching the ABA from the late 60's until the merger. Dr. J, George McGinnis (RIP), The Iceman, Roger Brown, etc. While the ABA invented the three point shot, they didn't rely on it. It was incorporated into the overall game. The top 4-5 teams in the ABA could hold their own against the NBA. When they merged, the top scorers in the NBA were former ABA players.
My time watching began right at the merger. I probably would have really liked the ABA. In addition to the guys you mentioned above, I was a huge David Thompson fan. Artis Gilmore, Connie Hawkins and Moses Malone were big men that played an entertaining style. Good stuff...We are old...
I remember all of those guys. Too many to name. Rick Barry played a couple of years for the Oakland Oaks. The ABA was in a number of cities before the NBA expanded to them. New Orleans Buccaneers, Memphis Tams/Sounds and the Utah Grizzlies. Darnell Hillman was the first to become a dunking highlight reel. Was known as Dr. Dunk. Dude could jump threw the roof as demonstrated by his ability to pick a quarter from the top of the backboard. His giant afro was awesome.
Eh, this very much feels like a chicken and the egg situation. The players haven’t cared for a while and it feels like with losing the media rights TNT just kinda said “fuck it”
For the third consecutive time...
A year younger than you, and grew up on Magic, Bird, Jordan, Thomas. Was fortunate to have a friend that had Pacers season tickets and got to see Jordan's return live at Market Square. I tried to watch a game a couple years ago and could only watch a half. Gone were the days of defense...especially knock you on your ass Detroit Pistons. I think the last time I really gave a shit about the NBA was the first few years Shaq came into the league and just being in awe of how physically dominate he was.
This is why I want the three point line to be a straight line across the court. These guys are too good at basketball under its current rule structure. It has made the game difficult to watch.
There is a strong contingent that shares this view.
This. Not to sound like an after school special but… Sports stars used to be hero’s, icons and role models. The grit, seeing hard work paying off. Playing all 82 was a badge of honor. Imagine if MJ played 65 games per season, he would have averaged 40 a game and we would have been able to save his body for the Shaq and Kobe Lakers. Now we have stars getting 40 million a year to play 2/3 of a season and opt out of things like dunk contests. MJ would never be okay with these guys winning the NBA dunk contests.
