NBA’s Glory Days Are Coming Back

I started this thought when I said this Celtics team is better than the 72 win Bulls team (face it Chicago, our starters are better).  But I’m starting to believe that the NBA is due for a return of the 80′s glory days. 

I’ve long been of the opinion that the 80′s NBA was the unmatched pinnacle of the sport.  I’d like to believe that will always hold true, but that’s probably because THAT’S the NBA of my childhood.  I’m lucky to have fallen in love with basketball when I had guys like Larry, Magic, Jordan, Stockton and more around.  It’s only natural that I’ll always hold them in a higher regard.  It’s just like people who grew up listening to music in the different decades.  Baby boomers will always love the music of their generation… and you’ll always love the music you grew up on… and neither will fully appreciate or understand the other. 

But I’m not going to be the old Dad who shakes his head and says “why are you listening to that crap.”  I’m not going to look at today’s NBA and say they’ll never reach what they had in the 80′s.  They’ll never play the same way again… but that’s good.  Guys are more athletic than they ever were.  Schemes are being devised to take advantage of that (or stop it on defense)… which means today’s tacticians have to be smarter.  And great players are coming out of nowhere. 

The 80′s had a few things going for it: (1) Comic-book hero level superstars and great personalities (2) tremendous rivalries and (3) deep talent on every team.  Today’s NBA isn’t quite there yet… but you can see it coming.  It’s like driving through rural backroads… but then suddenly seeing the city rise off in the distance.  You’re not there yet… but you know you’re getting close.  You’re getting that tingle of anticipation, because you know you’re heading to a pretty cool place. 

We’ve got one piece of that 80′s formula firmly in place.  We’ve got some comic-book hero level guys in this league like KG, Kobe and LeBron.  KG’s intensity, Kobe’s wild scoring, LeBron’s… well… everything.  Personalities like Gilbert Arenas, love him or hate him, keep the league interesting.  We’ve got emerging young stars like Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Brandon Roy and Chris Paul.  We’ve got veterans that are still awesome like Tim Duncan and Steve Nash.  We’ve even got plenty of Bill Laimbeer-type villains like Ron Artest and, after last year’s playoffs, Bruce Bowen.

Next up are the rivalries, which are starting to develop.  The Suns against Dallas or San Antonio is probably the best we have right now.  The Celtics and Detroit may be rekindling… and The Celtics and Orlando seed has been planted (we’ll see where that goes).  Seattle (if they stay there) and Portland can have a great one if they both improve at the same pace because of the whole Oden and Durant thing.  In fact, that might be one that I’m pulling for the most… because it has so many possible sub-plots.

And now that guys have to go to college for a year, we’re much more likely to see a resurgence of deep talent.  Kevin Durant, for example, essentially spent a year in the minor leauges by going to Texas.  He got a taste for what big-time basketball was while learning some of the basics in a team setting.  Rajon Rondo could have come out of high school, but there’s no way he would have found his game so quickly in the NBA if he hadn’t spent a year in Kentucky.  And some guys, like Roy Hibbert, decide they’re going to continue their development in college.  He could have come out, and he may have been good.  But its much more likely he’ll be better next year after spending a season as the team’s centerpiece.   He’ll only be better for it.  And a few years ago, OJ Mayo would have been the point guard for some young NBA team… making a ton of mistakes that could scar him for his whole career.  Now he’s developing his game at the next level at USC…. and he’ll get to know if he’s really NBA ready.   This new crop of more mature talent will be more able to step in and contribute.  That will mean teams will be reaching a little less internationally, which will mean fewer Darkos making their way to the top of the draft.

The watered-down expansion days have passed.  The stars in today’s NBA are transcendent-level guys… and their supporting casts are improving every year.  Tonight’s Celtics-Pistons game is the next in a budding rekindling of the rivalry that will, no doubt, produce playoff-level games before the All-Star break for years to come.  In a few years, when all of these things finally come together, we’ll see great regular-season basketball again.  Shooting percentages will go up… point totals will go up… teams will run more (because their benches will be deeper) and we’ll get back to the “NBA is Faaaaaan-tasic” days.  I can’t wait.

Herald:  Green have a lot to prove against Pistons  |  C’s supporting cast gets a Tony  |  Ray sees game in a new light  |  Pistons romp, get ready for C’s  |  Globe:  Allen, C’s get by Grizzlies  |  Palace the place to be  |  With Ray off, Tony steps up  |  Hoopsworld: League’s best take center stage  |  T&G:  Allen ready for a rematch  |  Celts do it without Allen