I know Barkley was athletic. But he was still always fat, and never had much stamina. Watch the crazy rotations teams have to make when the ball is moving during these playoffs.
Which NBA era wins...
- Thread starter CySmurf
- Start date
I think it'd be fun to watch the younger generation teams try to defend Magic and Jordan and Bird and Hakeem... these guys were legends in an era when defensive play was brutal. Against today's teams? Lol. They might put up 200.
I think it’s true that defending any of these teams would be impossible. I favor the millenial team because of the three.
But with that said I think had Magic come up in an era that emphasized developing the 3P shot he would’ve done it and been a prototypical modern player. Bird pretty much already would’ve been. Jordan was prototypical for any era. Big hole for that team was Hakeem sucked at FT.
Meanwhile, he's arguably the best defensive big in NBA history. The NBA DPOY award is now named the Hakeem Olajuwon trophy. Defensive play does matter in all of this.
In his prime (7 seasons 86-93) Barkley averaged 38.8 mpg. That have would lead the league every year since 2012.
Hakeem shot 71% for his career. For reference, LeBron shoots 73% for his career. He was not a bad FT shooter.
The other 4 on the millennials squad would be the best 4 possibly though. Swap out Harden for Dirk or Kawhi, probably the best two players missing from all these teams.
Kawhi objectively > Harden
Dirk objectively better than Harden and probably better than AI.
Nash objectively better than Harden and coin flip with AI.
Yeah I said Dirk, Kawhi and Nash were best players left off but you are right Giannis not in one is as bad as Dirk.
Dirk is 6th in career scoring.
Malone and Hakeem would drain 3s today no different than guys like Kat and Myles Turner. Hakeem especially had limitless athletic ability and reflexes. He focused on shot blocking, rebounding and post moves because of his era but he did everything in a graceful beautiful way which is insane for someone who started playing at 18. Had he grown up playing in USA he may have been the goat.
Yeah I thought Hakeem was way worse at the line than that. I thought he was in the 50s, but stand corrected.
Hakeem’s footwork was sick.
Some of his coaches wanted him to take 3s but he didn’t think it would help them win pulling him away from the basket. If the guy had played as a kid he’d probably be the perfect player.
Good luck trying to guard the best shooter in NBA history, and a legit 7 footer that can shoot from anywhere. Take prime Lebrons playmaking and with shooters and playmakers around, not even that fake 80s/90s tough defense could guard them. Lot of old people in these comments if all you are ragging on the younger generations, too.
I'm probably picking any team with Jordan but have you watched the NBA's offenses lately?
Assuming those 80s/90s players could defend in today's game the same way is like saying football teams played better defense a long time ago because they could crowd the LOS in a largely run-heavy era.
If you take that approach, it’s also the same way as saying because the Boomers team didn’t shoot threes and run offenses like they do today, means they couldn’t. It was looked at as lazy, gimmicky basketball, which I feel like it clearly is.
The Boomers ran more 'traditional' type of offense where you may have 2, maybe 3 guys that can consistently hit from three, then the 5 and 4s were rarely capable of stepping out much beyond the lane.
The league in that era didn't have the universal skill set across the positions that's more normal now.
So if you take them from that era, and plug them in to today's game, and they're going to struggle more to defend.
LeBron’s a very good playmaker but not in the same league as Jokic and Magic. Joker and Magic would run the offense in any team they ever play on.
I think you probably underestimate the playmaking all around games of Magic and Hakeem. Prime LeBron when he was rarely motivated defensively is the only guy even remotely in Hakeem’s league defensively. Prime MJ attacks the basket like no player ever even if we pretend guys who were automatic mid range like Hakeem and Malone wouldn’t drill 3s in today’s game or that Bird wouldn’t hit more threes in a later era. It’d be a very close matchup led by the best and second best players ever. Niang has more 3s as a fringe role player than Hornacek as a 20 year starter, he’s not some amazing shooter compared to Hornacek. Georges career 39.9%, Jeff career 40.2%.
Also Malone should easily replace Chuck (Malone was a load and would be hell for joker or lebron to defend, a guy like “mvp” Embiid is soft as hell in comparison) and Dirk or Kawhi should easily replace Harden to make that team much better. Young healthy Kawhi is probably the best defensive comp to MJ.
Really I'd like a list of a roster that could play in any era since the rules and styles have changed so much.
Young/peak Kawai imo could for example but doesn't get talked about enough.
I actually think someone like Rodman could. He didn't score but could when he wanted to and was always one of the better athletes on the floor.
Young/peak Kawai imo could for example but doesn't get talked about enough.
I actually think someone like Rodman could. He didn't score but could when he wanted to and was always one of the better athletes on the floor.
