Has the quality of players overall declined?

[shari91]

This is by no means a dig at Lebron or Cavs fans. Just something I've been thinking about when reading the "he has no support" comments.

Back in the 80s and 90s, there were players like Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kareem, Thomas, Barkley, Drexler. And their 'support staff' (gosh that makes me feel wrong to even type that) consist of players that most fans are well aware of: Pippen, Worthy, McHale, Parrish, Rodman, Salley, Horace, Paxson, and even Bill the original thug Laimbeer just to name a few.

WTF is going on in the NBA if I can pull those names off of the top of my head, maybe 20 years later, and people are now complaining about shitty teammates and benches? Shouldn't the quality of player have improved dramatically by now with innovation and science? Every other sport that I can think of has with maybe the exception of boxing. As I see it, a lot of these NBA guys will fade into my memory in 10 years time.

[kobefanatic]

remember this name please
SMUSH PARKER

[shari91]

remember this name please SMUSH PARKER

[cmle123]

not really. celtic you know the big 3. sun nash n amare, laker kobe n fisher, jazz william n broozer, spurs big 3, magic nelson n howard, nuggets billup n Antony, hornets paul n okafor, dallas kid n dirk

[kobefanatic]

he was the best PG kobe ever played with , he's a selfish biatch that shoots bricks and a much worse defender than fisher ever was, all PG's that plays against him look like isiah thomas or whoever great PG, just name it
SMUSH PARKER

[HoulihansTX]

I think there are more stars, and great players in the NBA than there ever was.

What has declined in todays' NBA is the overall skill level. The talent level is as high as ever, but many players lack fundamentals. Most players you see now are specialist, and can only help there teams in one facet of the game.

[kobefanatic]

just remember kobe's teammates from 05-07
BRIAN COOK= BIG SOFTY, BIG MAN THAT DOESN'T EVEN REBOUND SHOOTS MORE SISSY SHOTS DESPITE THAT LARGE FRAME
KWAME "BUTTER FINGERS" BROWN= BIG BODIED CAN'T CATCH ANY BALL TO SAVE HIS LIFE BOY
LUKE " THE PUKE" WALTON= pretty irritating to watch during those 2 seasons, plays like he's magic johnson
SHAMMOND WILLIAMS= signed to be a practice player just because he's KG's cousin

[landers781]

The product has been diluted due to expansion teams. Its all about supply in demand when it comes to quality. Thats just about every sport. When you get too many teams that need players, the overall talent level declines due to players that would not have made the NBA back in the day being in the NBA today.