When people try to rank and debate the greatest players in basketball history, or any sports history for that matter, it’s always pointed out that you can’t compare modern players and players from the past because at a base level, the philosophy of the game has changed drastically and the skills players possess have become more refined. My question is, are there any players from the 90s or earlier, who were so dominant that you could place them in a 2023 game and they would still be a threat? Like would Larry Birds game still be effective or would he get eaten alive by todays talent?
Bro I don’t mean to be a dick but this question has been asked on this sub at least 1,000 times.
Arvydas sabonis, not an all star, but he definitely would’ve been had he came into the league before the age of 30
Fuck All-Star, he’d be in the top 20.
Tons of em.
Pretty much all of them, JJ.
You can go back to the 60s and almost any of the top 10 guys at the time would still be great. Elgin Baylor, Wilt, Jerry West, etc. And Bird would be even better now that teams know how to use the 3 pointer, he was maybe the best shooter ever at that point and only shot 3 per game. And Jordan would still absolutely dominate.
Jordan wouldn’t be as dominant. He can’t shoot the 3 and he doesn’t have the benefit of playing in the illegal defense era. Even Jordan said it himself
Illegal d is a good point, but I’m sure he would be a decent 3 pt shooter if it was as important then as it is now. He adjusted his game big time when he played for Washington and didn’t have the same athleticism.
Jordan couldn’t shoot the three, except for that one NBA Finals game where he decided to make 6 in the first half and then shrugged because even he couldn’t believe how good he was.
The thing I love about the great-greats is how they have insane accomplishments with their “weaknesses”. Jordan set a NBA Finals record for threes in a half, and averaged double figure assists in his first ever finals, when he was known as a scorer who didn’t shoot threes. LeBron isn’t known as a scorer but is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Greats are going to be great regardless.
Bird would have benefit greatly from todays doctors too
I have no idea how you would stop mj (mostly driving to the hoop) with today’s whistle.
Only thing he would need to adapt is defensive end.
I guess the top 10 of the league in the 90s would still be in the top 20 today without much adjustment.
Patrick Ewing with even a modicum of offensive help would dominate in today’s game.
Dude Larry Bird would still wreck today’s league. Just because he didn’t have Derrick Jones Jr’s hops doesn’t mean he couldn’t hang, he’s essentially LeBron’s vision + elite shooting and handles in Joe Ingles’ body (I know this is a very basic and lazy description, just trying to bridge eras). And Ingles was a guy who could handle defending elite, athletic wings.
Really, almost any superstar from any era would make it work in today’s era. Patrick Ewing would be closer to Joel Embiid than Kevon Looney (no disrespect to Loon) if that’s what you’re trying to insinuate.
If Jokic can dominate today’s game, Bird certainly could
People can’t help comparing 2 players who have completely different styles just because they’re white
It more about exposing the people that think Bird wouldn’t survive because of his lack of athleticism, when Jokic is undisputedly the best player with 0 athleticism.
And the funny thing is, Bird was reasonably athletic.
Nah there are definitely some similarities between the two
I think an interesting question is does Bird play the small ball 5 at 6’10 in the playoffs. Imagine him in GS system
bird wouldnt be a great three point shooter in this era but his midrange would still be elite
Alex English. He rarely gets the respect he is due. In his prime, he scored 29.8 points a game and would play 80 games a season. He had tons of Nuggets records but was rarely given the recognition he deserves.
Not an all star but I genuinely think George Mikkan (how do you spell that?) would still be a rotation maybe even starting center if he was born in the 90s.
Wilt would be a 7-1 Giannis.
Barkley would be a healthy Zion.
Jordan would be a better Jimmy Butler.
Bill Walton would be similar to Jokic or Sabonis.
Magic would be a better Ben Simmons.
Dennis Johnson would be Derrick White.
Isiah Thomas would be awesome.
Hakeem would be an awesome 2-way player.
A lot of them would be instantly awesome.
Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Bob Cousy, and Oscar Robertson. I’m specifically listing these four because they were elite, would still be. And nobody ever mentions them.
if you just picked them up from their era and put them in todays game they wouldn’t be that great. if they grew up in the modern day and environment they would probably be great