Which was better? The 1980’s NBA or 2010’s NBA

Lebron James vs Michael Jordan (via Wikipedia Commons)

Which was better, the 80’s NBA or today’s NBA
by Donnel Scott (Contributor)

For what it’s worth having watched the NBA since I was 12 years old until the ripe age of 51, the league is very different today. Excitement, hard work, many different styles of individual play were showcased each and every night.

Teams, in the 1980’s, played with passion and a fierceness hardly seen in today’s NBA. Players played hurt, guards battled big men down low for rebounds, not like today’s game where guards hideout at the three point line hoping to make a shot from behind the arc.

Players in the 80’s were determined to beat each other with skills and with a high level of basketball cunning. When I look at players today it’s more about pulling together the best players you can on any team and then you might win a championship. The attitude to win with those you labor with just doesn’t exist, players want a championship as early as possible not realizing everyone won’t win a championship, everyone can’t win that’s why you second place.

The NBA climate today is built on the Hip-Hop generation and its millennial counterparts, time will only tell how tickled these fans will become. These fly by night fans tend to sway their allegiance to the next best thing on any given day.

The NBA of the 80’s has die-hard fans that came to games to watch their teams whether they were good or bad, that doesn’t exist in today’s NBA climate.

Lebron James is the millennials and X-generations basketball God, the younger the demographic of the NBA fan the less likely they are to appreciate Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Steve Nash, Bill Lambeer’s of the 80’s, where many young fans can only associate with his (MJ) greatness through a pair of tennis shoes.

The older generation grew up watching their idols matriculate through the college ranks and then move onto the NBA. Players honed their skills while in college, today’s player can barely conduct a layup with the opposite hand. Today’s player averages more than the 20 points a game not because they are great shooters only because they shoot so much though a course of a game, I could average more than twenty points a game to if I shot the ball 40 times a night….and I could do that at my age now.

The debate rages on, is Lebron better than Michael, it’s not a debate Lebron plays in an era where half of the players on any given night could not be named by the best basketball aficionado let alone anyone in the teams front office.

Lebron will always be chasing Michael Jordan, just like the NBA will always be chasing the great games and names of those who played in the 80’s.

When basketball arenas start to install Barber Shops, Hair Salons, and Spa treatments, we must realize the game is suffering and we need gimmicks and gadgets to fill the seats the product on the floor is worst than we can imagine. I would take the 80’s over today’s NBA any day of the week.

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