re: Did players in the 80's 90's palm/carry the ball as much as they do now?

It didn't happen every game. When it did happen it was talked about .

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Now we don’t even enforce the pivot foot.

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If you want to see the beginning of the end of the pivot foot violation go watch prime Jordon.

People love seeing players do otherworldly things and a lot of Jordon and later his contemporaries did their otherworldly things as a result of lax calling of several offensive motion rules. Stars have always gotten leeway and Jordon's "dynamic" pivot foot and pulling up his dribble a step (or more) early became accepted. I remember watching one game ~35 years ago they called him for a blatant carry when he had already taken like four steps on the play without putting the ball on the court.

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Talking about when they’re already stopped and using their pivot foot.

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I am telling you go back and watch Jordon. One of his signature moves was based on switching his pivot foot. He would do it before and after the dribble.

Anyone arguing he didn't consistently switch his pivot foot, carry, and travel either didn't watch NBA religiously at the time, didn't know what they were looking at, or has a poor memory. His stardom single-handedly opened up the offensive motion rules.

Go back and watch the flow of players from the '60s through today. In the old days, the players were very staccato; there was lots of herky jerky action because the offensive motion rules were called tightly. Over the years, players' movements became more fluid, and they changed direction with ease. Some of it was increased athleticism, but a lot of it was the ability to stretch the rules. Jordon would have likely been just as dominant, kept on a tight leash, but he wouldn't have been as pretty doing it.

Don't think this is an assault on MJ because it is not, I like that type of loose play, as I was a PG. The genesis was really after the league merger when players like Julius Irving, David Thompson, and George Gervin started testing the rules in the NBA.