Originally posted by Niners99:
First of all, it's ridiculous to put modern players in the past and say theyd dominate. Modern players are a result of the evolution of time. They had access to training methods and sports medicine that wasn't available until recently. They also had information resulting from what people learned about the game of basketball in that era. They saw how certain styles of player were defended, and were coached how to beat that strategy.
All these sensitive pace and space "freaks" of the modern day would be fish out of water in the era where hand checking, punishing defense, and half court ball ruled the game. In the 80's and 90's Giannis would've just been a C who played down low. Thats how he would've been coached growing up because of his size.
Without the evolution of the modern game, players' games would all be vastly different. Theyd all have been put into different roles, and had to develop different skillsets.
Jordan was a smaller player playing in a much tougher defensive era. He didn't have the natural advantage of being able to barrell through the paint like a bowling ball like LeBron. Players who attempted to just muscle their way to the basket back then got knocked on their ass. Today its common to see the players clear out of the way because they're all afraid of being on someone's poster.
Jordan played his entire career in the heart of the era where most of the top 50 players of all time played, and he unquestionably was the best player of his era.
This is a fantastic post.
