70s Kareem would still dominate today.
Knock it all you want, but the late '70s were the most compe ive and parity-driven the NBA has ever been. You could win 40-some games, squeeze into the playoffs, get hot and play for a championship.
And Pistol Pete is still probably the best ball handler and passer of all time.
...........and teams with 5 SGs chucking up 25 shots a game each from 3pt line distance was unheard of.
Todays NBA
Today's NBA![]()
70s Moses would have Cousins begging for his mom.![]()
ABA > 70s NBA
Parity was achieved in the 70s b/c a majority of the top black athletes were in the ABA.(Magic would have ended up in the ABA if it wasn't for the merger)
I'm talking about the first years after the merger, too- '77, '78, '79. In 1976-77, the first year after the merger, the best record in the NBA was 53-29 (Lakers.) In '78 a 44-win team (Bullets) beat a 47-win team (Sonics) in the Finals. Very, very compe ive.
78 wouldn't have been a compe ive season at all if Walton didn't break his foot though. The Blazers were something like 50-10 until then.
That's true. Portland looked to be on the verge of a dynasty before Walton got hurt. After he got hurt it fell apart fast up there. Within a year of two of the Blazers winning the le Walton, Maurice Lucas and Lionel Hollins- the three best players on that '77 team- were all playing (or not playing, in Walton's case) for other teams.
There was a lot of inviting though. The Blazers would have broken apart regardless.
Am i watching womans basketball contest?
I don't get the point of ting on past eras? Evolution in sports doesn't just happen instantaneously, sprung from the proverbial head of Zeus. Without these past players paving the way, there is no modern game. And a lot of modern players, not having the benefit of modern training and knowledge, probably wouldn't have been NBA players in the league's formative years. Steph Curry is probably driving a truck or something if he was born in 1950. I mean, his jumpshot mechanics were pure when he was a kid (worse than those of 70's players), and if he was born without the advantage of being an NBA player's son and the additional advantage of modern training (there were no Chip Engellands in those days), he would've never changed his jumper most likely and flamed out of basketball in high-school.
I wish there was video of the 78 team because I always hear how much better they were than the 77 team, and the 77 team played some of the most beautiful basketball I have ever seen. Walton could do everything. I always flip flop on the bigger what if: what if Walton stayed healthy vs what if prime Sabonis came to the NBA and never destroyed his knees. Those two have to be the most complete bigmen I have ever seen.
Oscar Robertson couldn't dribble with his left hand or his head up but he cause easily handle Curry with a full court press...
Wasn't it also an extremely unpopular time for the nba? I don't think people understand that the nba isn't like the nfl, it wouldn't do well with complete parity.
wtf..Robertson would ve undrafted in todays nba.
And like I said, Curry is a truck driver or an accountant if he was born in 1950.
He had terrible mechanics as a kid, wasn't recruited out of high school, and has relatively poor natural athleticism, but he was able to overcome those obstacles through applied knowledge. They didn't have that luxury in the 60's. You practiced in your driveway or at the playground. No filming your jumpshot. No working with a Chip Engelland. No strength and conditioning coaches. No strobe technology. Etc, etc.
In many ways, I have more reverence for older players because they had to invent a lot of these techniques and such out of thin air. No army of coaches at some compound "teaching" it them.
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