The National Basketball Association (NBA) finds itself in an interesting conundrum these days. On the one hand, there are people who are still desperately hanging onto the game as we knew it 20 or 30 years ago as the only kind of NBA anyone should remember. On the other hand, there are stars in the league these days, such as Steph Curry and James Harden that seem to be making the case that the NBA is in a new golden age.
Even as Kobe Bryant calls it quits and Lebron James starts to show his age, there are a number of young stars that are making the NBA more watchable than it has been in the last couple of years. You would never know that the future of basketball is actually looking bright when you listen to some of the most accomplished and well liked analysts in the game. Betting on basketball may not be what it used to be, and it is important to note the changes when making your picks.
Charles Barkley has now famously claimed that we shouldn’t be all that impressed with the fact that the Golden State Warriors start to the season. When he was asked to compare Steph Curry’s team, which looks to be on the cusp of becoming a dynasty, to the bonafide dynasty that was the Chicago Bulls of the mid to late 1990s, Barkley claimed it’s a “much easier game” today.
While some people believe that the past should be looked at with awe and wonder, others believe that there is something to be truly feared about the future of the game. In particular, it seems as if there are people like Mark Jackson who believe having true shooters like Curry in the mix are going to bring the NBA down. He talked about Curry’s game during the Warrior’ Christmas Day game and made the comment that “I go into these high school gyms, I watch these kids, and the first thing they do is run to the three-point line.”
Of course, in order to claim that Curry being able to hit a basket from deep is somehow hurting the game, you have to be able to ignore the fact that the “better” NBA of 20 and 30 years ago had plenty of long range bombers. There was of course, Larry Bird and Reggie Miller but there were also people who could ‘only’ shoot the three. The fact of the matter is that while the game has changed a bit, it’s past has been romanticized to the point where those who love the game are actively working against its future.