NBA: I'm Just Saying Basketball Skills Are Getting Worse

Everyone's saying things are better now than before, but the reality is many techniques that wouldn't work under the old rules. Modern dribbling and drives, if played in Jordan's early days, would have been easily called a traveling violation. Those rules weren't relaxed until the mid-to-late 90s.

It's not that basketball skills are declining, but rather that the level of physical contact has decreased. There's a saying in the NBA: even centers can pull off flashy moves when there's no physical contact, but they become a mess under pressure and can't even hold onto the ball. Comparing players from the 1980s with players today is inherently unfair.

The comments section is full of people saying that today's players wouldn't stand a chance in the 80s or 90s, they'd be beaten to a pulp. Every time I see these comments, I laugh. Are today's players less capable fighters than those from the past? Can't they beat those guys in canvas shoes who were addicted to drugs?

So-called signature moves are all tailored to the physical attributes of the star player. If you don't have that physical ability, let Paul use his ultimate move and see if he doesn't beat you into a pulp.

One was forged in the crucible of life and death, the other was marketed through medicine and health products. I don't understand why they're arguing about this.

The most famous example is when Ah Tan tried to learn the Dream Shake, only to end up with a crab-like fadeaway that made everyone laugh. But why did Ah Tan even bother learning new skills? It was because, under the rules at the time, simply relying on driving to the basket would get you double-teamed, forcing Ah Tan to learn more advanced techniques.

Some people who've been watching football for a long time just enjoy the spectacle; their self-proclaimed seniority is ridiculous. Give them a 90s videotape, and they can't even explain the tactics or positioning, yet they spout off a bunch of antiquity rhetoric. Haha.

Those talking about physicality just need to look at the physiques of role players from the past. In the 80s and 90s, besides star players, there were plenty of skinny guys. Did you expect role players to be replaced every game back then? It's simply that the quality of role players has improved, and players can no longer dominate like before.

To be precise, the overall NBA players are indeed more well-rounded than in the past.

Leaving aside the ancient hype, how can a few skills really lead to a winning streak for a bottom-tier team? And that includes the SuperSonics and Lakers? Author, I think you're just trying to smear them.