Quote (MADmartigan @ 15 Dec 2020 16:44)
I do agree with that but the NBA has become such an offensive game over the past few decades. I'd probably value exceptional offense a little more these days. In another era I felt like great defensive play could win championships. It still can but ever since the NBA banned hand checking against perimeter players after the 2003-2004 NBA season the game started to shift towards more offense.
Four of the most physical NBA Finals I had ever seen: 2003 Spurs vs. Nets, 1999 Spurs vs. Knicks, 1995 Rockets vs. Magic and 1994 Rockets vs. Knicks. You had to be a man's man to compete in those NBA Finals! You could just about get away with murder on the court. Anything short of body slamming a player was encouraged and cheered upon. You could even smack a player in the head from time to time and no foul was called. There was physical contact every time down the court. It wouldn't be uncommon to hold a team under 80 points. Touch fouls didn't exist because hand checking was legal.
Back then I had fun watching the NBA Finals. Compare that to the 2020 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Heat. Yeah, I watched it because I'm a fan of basketball but it was so boring despite the greatness of LeBron and AD. Also Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro put on a show and did their thing. The poor TV ratings proved just how disinteresting it was. Even though political factors played into the low ratings, but from a pure basketball standpoint I wasn't jumping out of my seat and yelling in excitement. I was yawning and watching just to watch.
The NBA used to be better than the NFL at one point. Now it's not even close. Literally, the NBA has work to do to get back on top.
Very true well said