Making the Connection from Then to Now and Back Again!
What do my wife and I argue about?
Finances? Yes
My sloppy tendencies? Yes
Who is going to walk the dogs at night? On occasion
But none of these has been met with the same intensity as our worst/best subject: Who is better, MJ or Mr. Russell? The mere mentioning it causes immediate discomfort and divorce lawyer searches.
There were less teams when Russell won!
MJ was a ball hog in a team game!
MJ never lost a final!
Russell won 11 titles in the NBA alone.
MJ made Space Jam and Nike!
Russell walked with MLK, was a Jackie Robinson Pall-bearer and was a key Civil Rights activist!
Look at Russell’s amazing teammates and Coach!
Look at Jordan’s amazing teammates and Coach!
Because I will never stop, it normally ends with, "Will Russell was a big man who played with small men and he would never be able to play today!"
Yep, that’s what we argue about.
The big problem with comparing generations is the gaps which seem impossible to connect.
Babe Ruth never faced a pitcher from any other race and Tiger Woods would have never been allowed to play golf. There is significantly more acceptance today and racism is taboo. Players are judged more on skill and their ability to make money for their owners. (It is not all sunshine and lollypops.)
Nutrition and technology allow today’s athletes to be in better shape. Injuries are not as devastating and players compete at a new peak physical condition. Bobby Orr would have had better doctors, Wilt Chamberlain would have travelled better and slept in better beds, fringe athletes would not have been forced to work summer jobs, etc. The list of advantages offered to today’s athletes is incredible.
There are more athletes today. Most leagues have players from all over the globe. Increase the talent pool and you increase the competition. There were no Yao Mings, Pedro Matrinezs, or Alex Ovechkins in generations past.
Today’s games are scouted better and players are more informed. I am not sure if this helps her argument or mine. Someone described a basketball situation where players come off the court and are handed iPads to look at the next set for plays. Suddenly, the numbers and statistics are causing a disconnect between teammates. If players forget who they are fighting for, they will eventually forget the fight. Money and endorsements cause the same distraction in the pros.
Cheaters need to be smarter in today’s world. Because everyone sees everything today, it is tougher to cheat. Then again, there are more people trying to help groups cheat or gain an unfair advantage. Teams can protect their players from distractions and harassment during road trips. People cannot bride players like they used to.
So here is my attempt to connect the generations; I akin this to playing the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with basketball stats.
Bill Russell was the guy in the fifties and sixties. He dominated but there were also were guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Oscar Robinson who never played for the Celtics but had great careers. You may remember Wilt for scoring 100 or 20000 depending on the stats you are looking a, West is just The Logo, and others consider Oscar the greatest of all time.
The aforementioned gentleman gave the guys in the seventies a run. Add to that Kareem was a guy who played well into his forties while beating up on some of the 80s gang. While Mr. Russell retired in the late 60s, Willis Reed was a key in the Knicks titles in the early 70s against Jerry, Wilt, and the Lakers. Yes the sixties spilled into the 70s.
Here is where we start to pick up steam; Lewis Alcindor was a rookie in 1969-70. He was a star in the 70s and the 80s. Kareem even played in every all-star game in the 80s. He won the finals MVP in 1985 and was all NBA six times in the 80s. He only won one title in the 70s but 5 in the 80s. To me this speaks to the continuity of talent. If the 70s were that much weaker then how was he dominating just as much as an older center in the 80s? Right Moses Malone and Dr. J? Who was playing in the 80s? Besides Larry and Magic, every title in the 90s was won by a team led by a guy who played for half the 80s. Except Tim Duncan, no Finals MVP in the 90s had played less than five years in the 80s. Also, no finals MVP in the 90s won a title in the 80s. A decade with a 70s star still playing an MVP type role.
After the 90s, most think the NBA went downhill. The problem is in the domination of 90s stars. They did not dominate the 2000s the way the 80s dominated the 90s. You could argue if the high school players were forced to go to university the way most players were, the 90s would have been even less impactful.
My point, basketball has changed but the great players adapt and learn to dominate their given time. Jordan wouldn’t have dominated the 60s any more than Oscar Robinson did. Mr. Russell had the ability to make it in any era. Presently, with people arguing about Lebron vs Jordan, Tim Duncan is making a case that he has had as much impact on the game as anyone over the last thirty years. Duncan is who Mr. Russell would have been in today’s game. A team oriented guy who put stats and endorsements behind team success. He took less of a pay check so he could play less and have a better team. (Mr. Russell did that as well.) He looked to help his teammates succeed and passed praise onto them. He was happy for finales MVP Kawhi last June while others argued his possible claim to the MVP.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/russell_duncan_pt1.html
I don’t have a time machine to zap players from one era to the next but I do have the ability to speculate. I do not believe Mr. Russell could win 11 in 13 these days. With modern training, I do believe the players from those decades could impact the game to the same degree they did back then. Great shooters would still be great shooters. Great rebounders would still be great rebounders. I think the idea that you cannot compare eras is silly. Think your way through it and keep in mind the obvious adaptions. Younger players copy the older players and learn from what they did or did not do. Younger coaches try to teach the practices that worked for older coaches. Some players are true individual innovators like Jordan and some coaches develop significant offenses like Tex Winter’s Triangle. True teams are still winning championship, ask Lebron or Duncan, and ball hogs are still looking to put up stats. Always remember, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
