Some former NBA players such as Magic Johnson and TNT analyst Reggie Miller seem to have no problem marveling at the supreme talent of today’s NBA. Others like Stephen Jackson and Charles Barkley, to name a couple, have unashamedly spoken out in some capacity about how today’s NBA is softer, and thus lesser than their eras.
Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations and Hall of Famer Larry Bird, on the other hand, is having trouble not considering this current era of NBA basketball the best of all time.
Via Charles Bethea of The New Yorker:
“It’s funny how the game has changed,” Bird continued. “And my thinking about it. I was really worried–back sixteen, seventeen years ago–that the little guy didn’t have a spot in the N.B.A. anymore: it was just going to be the big guards like Magic Johnson. But then players started shooting more threes and spacing the court, and everyone wants small guards now. Watching these kids play now, I’m like everybody else: Wow, man. They can really shoot! They have more freedom to get to the basket. The ball moves a little better. These kids are shooting from farther, with more accuracy. Now some teams shoot up around thirty threes a game. My era, you always think that’s the greatest era. But I’m not so sure anymore.”
The evolution of the game is hard to ignore, but this conversation is still a matter of perspective, and who you ask. There are aspects of the game in the 80’s and 90’s that still lead people to believe the NBA was more talented and physical. It’s become popular to question if some of today’s stars would last in the climate of that NBA era, but it’s just as interesting to flip the script and wonder if those players could survive in today’s NBA era, which Bird clearly has great respect for. The game is much faster and even more versatile with the greatest shooter and some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game featured in this current era. Those things considered, Bird has every reason to look at today’s NBA and question if this era has superseded his own.
