Bust a sports myth

The NBA was too physical in the 90’s for today’s players.

This is nothing but nostalgia for old timers. There were more “hard” fouls but these type of plays were happening maybe 1-3 times a game. People like to act like anytime you went to the hoop you were being guillotined. Watch some of those games in entirety. Some players of today would be even more dominant because of the zone defense rules.

If anything, that era couldn’t play today. The game is much more sophisticated now with more talent overall. The MJ/Barkley/Malone etc superstar types would still fit in, as most stars could play in any generation, but a lot of the role guys (stiff 7 foot white guys as an example) aren’t athletic or skilled enough for the game as it is now.

Tough for a skill guy to get into the lane when you get hand checked all night.

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The NBA was too physical in the 90’s for today’s players.

This is nothing but nostalgia for old timers.

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No shite. If you listen to those guys, you'd think that players in the 80s and 90s were getting shot/shanked every time they drove the lane. My personal favorite is when the nostalgia morons claim that LeBron couldn't handle the physicality of that era. He's built like a freight train and has been injured all of one time in 17 seasons. He would be just fine.

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You think Steph Curry could have physically lasted with the beating he would have taken back then?

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John Stockton was listed at 6’1 175 pounds and he seemed to handle the unbearable physicality just fine. Steph is listed at 6’2 190 pounds.

Yeah I’m sure he’d actually preferred to get fouled more. He’s a 90+ FT shooter so if the “90’s plan” for him would’ve been foul him more while he’s primarily shooting 3’s, good luck.

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Because that works in this era, it’s what helps win. It’s not like he’s out there doing that because he physically can’t take the contact. He wants the foul call and that’s what gets it. The same logic could apply to a lot of 90’s players. Could players/teams from the 90’s play in today’s game with their lack of 3 point shooting? By playing the same style they did, of course not. But if they also played today, they would adapt to the current game and shoot more 3’s. These guys adapt to the game they’re in. I guess it shouldn’t shock me when MSB says “well how would lebron do without flopping?!?!” He would eviscerate the athletes trying to guard him in the 90’s

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Maybe so. He isn't the only one that flops either. It's a pretty cowardly way to try to win but hey, I guess that is how the game is played now.

Look, I think Lebron is great, no disputing that. The whole premise that today's players couldn't play back then is ridiculous. No different than people thinking the 70's Steelers could play against todays teams. Things are way different, todays teams would eviscerate them.

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Tough for a skill guy to get into the lane when you get hand checked all night.

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That’s a myth I’d like to bust...

The idea that a basic hand check can stop a great player from scoring.

People completely exaggerate the effectiveness of a hand check. It’s completely silly. Really, it’s just a way for old guys to defend players of the past.

Here is a quote from Kobe on the illegal defense rules of the past and hand-checking:

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But for scorers like myself and Carmelo and KD, the rules from the ’80s can be more beneficial for us, because you have to be played straight up. You want to double team, you got to come all the way over. So, for us, I don’t care if you hand check us with three hands. If there’s nobody behind you, you’re not going to stop us. So the zone I think cripples some of the top scorers.”

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What he’s saying is, it’s more difficult for great players to score today because they can be doubled or have other players clogging the driving lanes in ways they couldn’t do in the past because of the illegal defense rules. Hand-checking wasn’t much of an issue.. the biggest advantage for offensive players back then was the large amounts of space created on the floor due to the illegal defense rules.

If you don’t understand the illegal defense rules, you don’t really understand how beneficial it was to offensive players. I’ve made several posts about it over the years on here.

The removal of the illegal defense rules was a much bigger hindrance for offensive players than any small advantage gained by the removal of hand-checking.

Here is Tracy McGrady back in 2003 on the new defensive rules:

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"I'm frustrated," McGrady said. "I'm frustrated from the simple fact that the NBA needs to take out the zone. Guys as myself, having trouble playing our normal game. Teams are struggling as well. They say they want to speed up the game, well, take out the zone. It'll speed a game, more points will be put on the board.

"To me, it's frustrating because I love to entertain. I mean, you play a zone on me like that and I don't know if you guys (media) realize that, or the fans realize that, but my job is real tough when a team zones up on us. I can't do anything."

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In other words, the defensive freedom today makes it tougher for players to score, and hand-checking is a vastly overrated defensive tool touted by people who are trying to inflate the defense of past eras. Hand-checking is nothing more than a minor nuisance.

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No shite. If you listen to those guys, you'd think that players in the 80s and 90s were getting shot/shanked every time they drove the lane. My personal favorite is when the nostalgia morons claim that LeBron couldn't handle the physicality of that era. He's built like a freight train and has been injured all of one time in 17 seasons. He would be just fine.

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Have you heard about the "Jordan Rules" that the 90's Pistons used to knock MJ on his arse everytime he had the ball?

MJ personally acknowledges them as inspiring him to get tougher on his offseason workouts to endure the physicality of deep playoff runs

Have you seen the Pistons/Celtics/Lakers fights in the 80's?

NBA was far more physical

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Have you heard about the "Jordan Rules" that the 90's Pistons used to knock MJ on his arse everytime he had the ball?

MJ personally acknowledges them as inspiring him to get tougher on his offseason workouts to endure the physicality of deep playoff runs

Have you seen the Pistons/Celtics/Lakers fights in the 80's?

NBA was far more physical

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Yeah, and all of those clips you see back then were fouls. They were called fouls back then. Using clips of fouls and flagrant fouls to prove that the game was more physical back then is silly. I can grab clips from the 2000’s of players getting hammered. Players fighting. Those are the exceptions.

It is true that the game was a little more physical back then for perimeter players. But nostalgia nerds completely exaggerate how physical it was by acting like these flagrant fouls were within the rules, like it was blood sport back then. It’s nonsense.

The McHale clothesline on Rambis was a regular foul. Not even flagrant. Most of the Pistons fouls where they’d throw a guy to the ground were just regular fouls. Do the same thing today and you get thrown out of the game. Do what McHale did and you’re suspended for multiple games.