Personally, I believe the late 80's and the entire 90's to be the golden age of NBA basketball. The entire generation is represented by Hall of Hamers like Jordan, Olajuwon, Pippen, Mullin, Stockton, Robinson, Malone, Barkley, Drexler, Miller, Ewing ... Now, today with Malone's retirement and Miller's announcement that he will retire after this season, almost every famous player from that generation is gone. It makes me sad because I truly believe that generation is the golden generation of NBA basketball.
I agree. I have courtside seats to the Sonics, and watching the game against New Orleans felt like a HS bball game.
golden age might be done...but out with the old and in with the new. the nba has a bright future: yao, amare, lebron, kobe, iverson, carter, dirk, kg, duncan, okafor, and at least 20 others to carry the torch.
Rod Strickland, Charlie Ward, and Deke??? Actually, I think you can consider Payton part of that era.
it is amazing how long the classes of '84 and '85 carried this league (with a little help from some later classes). the nba was just dominated by them. now it seems like we've finally got our new generation of guys who will rule for a long time with duncan, kg, kobe, tmac, dirk, yao and then the younger guys like wade, lebron, and amare. shaq kinda sandwiched in between both eras by starting in the early 90's.
Jordan marked the emergence of flash and hype backed by endorsements. In that era, only Jordan and Dream were Kings.
The Golden Age started with the entry of Magic - Bird, Lakers - Celtics and ended, regrettably, with MJ's 1st 'retirement' (the alleged gambling dodge). Malone and Reg - gie's retirement puts two of the great names of yesteryear into the history books. I'll miss RM but, as much as I respect his game I will not miss Malone.
I think the Golden Age was Magic,Larry,MJ. I'm sorry but these 3 players put the NBA on the map in a way no other players before them have. If it werent for them there would be no Kobes,Macs or Lebrons. But not to shortchange today's up and coming stars. The future of the NBA is safe with them But I dont think there is much more room for Kobe to improve. I think he hit his prime and will play at that amazing level for a number of year. Same with T-mac I cant see how much better offensively he can become, he can pick it up defensively (which has this year) but I think he too is starting to peak and will play at this level for a number of years. Wade has room to grow, Amare too but he will have to change his game when Nash retires/gets too worned out, but I think he is capable of doing that. I am not going even imagine how Lebron will turn out its scary the guy is doing 25/7/7 and he is only 20. And i dont care what you guys think but I think Melo will improve and reclaim his place as a future star. And lets not forget about Darko I am not sold yet that he is a bust I think he can become a player in the league he needs some real PT. I think a change of scenery is whats best for Darko at this point.
You're right. He did score 7 points last night. On a serious note, I think he'll improve a lot once the Pistons get a new coach.
I'd say that the golden age ended when the rules changed. With today's rules, it's MUCH harder for individual players to perform as legendary as it was during the days of illegal defense and no zones. I'm not saying it's impossible, but even the best players of today won't have the opportunity to shine like MJ, Magic, Bird, etc.. To emphasize my point: imagine Melo and LeBron in a world of illegal defense. Seriously - try to imagine that. Now THAT would be along the lines of the old days. THAT would be a modern Bird/Magic rivalry. The talented players are here, but the rules hold them back. -- droxford
