Not to mention all the shytty expansion teams.
Look at a year like 1997-98, there were four 60+ win teams that year, but there were also five teams that won less than 20 games.
1990s NBA teams vs Current teams.
- Thread starter Malta
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Not to mention all the shytty expansion teams.
Look at a year like 1997-98, there were four 60+ win teams that year, but there were also five teams that won less than 20 games.
Pippen had the WOAT contract, his agent is a fukking fool
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
He was extremely unhappy, but him & his agent pushed for those extra deals on the original contract
They fukked it up and you absolutely cannot blame the Bulls
I mean, that is some damning shyt.
That contact for 22 mil in 1990 actually made him one of the highest paid guys in the league. Then it all exploded
sportscribe
Superstar
The league was just as top heavy then. When you think 90s basketball, the teams that come to your mind are the Bulls, Rockets, Knicks, Jazz, Sonics, Pacers, Magic, Suns....then the Heat, Lakers and Spurs coming along in the late 90s.
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
The Bulls are lucky Pippen didn't have a good agent or he would have bounced and the Bulls in as short lived as most 90s teams.
The Bulls are lucky Pippen didn't have a good agent or he would have bounced and the Bulls in as short lived as most 90s teams.
that contact made him one of the 10-15 highest paid players in the league at the time though
point being, bouncing would have never made sense, its not like they were trying to be cheap, Pippen just pushed for too many years
NYC Rebel
...on the otherside of the pond
What you call top heavy were good teams. What I call top heavy was 80s teams stacked with HOFamers that made that 90s top heavy teams
he could have gotten way morethat contact made him one of the 10-15 highest paid players in the league at the time though
point being, bouncing would have never made sense, its not like they were trying to be cheap, Pippen just pushed for too many years
uh no, he couldnt have, again, that contract made him one of the highest paid players in the league
@NYC Rebel look at Chuck's salary history, at least the Bulls/Scottie were able to neogotiate a deal to the Rockets to get him some serious guap
Season / Team/ Lg / Salary
1985-86Philadelphia 76ersNBA $437,500
1987-88Philadelphia 76ersNBA $822,500
1988-89Philadelphia 76ersNBA $1,536,000
1990-91Philadelphia 76ersNBA $2,900,000
1991-92Philadelphia 76ersNBA $3,200,000
1992-93Phoenix SunsNBA $2,420,000
1993-94Phoenix SunsNBA $3,250,000
1994-95Phoenix SunsNBA $4,030,000
1995-96Phoenix SunsNBA $4,760,000
1996-97Houston RocketsNBA $4,695,000
1997-98Houston RocketsNBA $2,250,000
1998-99Houston RocketsNBA $1,000,000
1999-00Houston RocketsNBA $9,000,000
Season / Team/ Lg / Salary
1985-86Philadelphia 76ersNBA $437,500
1987-88Philadelphia 76ersNBA $822,500
1988-89Philadelphia 76ersNBA $1,536,000
1990-91Philadelphia 76ersNBA $2,900,000
1991-92Philadelphia 76ersNBA $3,200,000
1992-93Phoenix SunsNBA $2,420,000
1993-94Phoenix SunsNBA $3,250,000
1994-95Phoenix SunsNBA $4,030,000
1995-96Phoenix SunsNBA $4,760,000
1996-97Houston RocketsNBA $4,695,000
1997-98Houston RocketsNBA $2,250,000
1998-99Houston RocketsNBA $1,000,000
1999-00Houston RocketsNBA $9,000,000
sportscribe
Superstar
Certainly...by top heavy I mean there are maybe 5 teams in any given season that have a realistic chance of winning a championship. The rest are just there to pretty much make up the numbers or fight for a lottery position.
OG Talk
Archived
A better argument is the travesty that the Eastern Conference has been the past decade and how thats led to a league basically playing at 75% capacity...
For example the year the Bulls won 72 games nobody in the conference made the playoffs without being over .500..The 2 seed in the conference that year (Orlando) won over 60 games and they faced a 64 win Sonics team in the Finals that were 38-3 at home...
The East had 3 teams that weren't over .500 make the playoffs this year... So when we talk about team play we can't leave that out of the discussion..
Also players took a lot less time to develop and were more NBA ready as rookies in the 90's...
Look at some of the first year stat lines for players drafted in the 90's
David Robinson 24 ppg 12 rpg 4 bpg
Derrick Colemen 19 ppg 10 rpg
Larry Johnson 19 ppg 11 rpg
Alonzo Mourning 21 ppg 10 rpg 3.5 bg
Shaquille O'Neal 24 ppg 14 rpf 3.5 bpg
Allen Iverson 24 ppg 8 apg 2.2 sp
Andrew Wiggins is supposed to be the second coming of Jesus in sneakers and averaged 16.9 ppg on 43% shooting for a team that had the worst record in the league...Michael Carter Williams the ROY the year before did the same thing for a trash Philly team...
I think the combination of a historicaly poor Eastern conference and younger players beng less physically and mentally prepared to dominate from day 1 is a knock on the current era...
But yeah they do take and make a lot more 3's....Yet nobody in this era is in the top 20 of the highest scoring teams in NBA history...Because turnovers, freethrows and high percentage shot attempts still matter...
mastermind
Rest In Power Kobe
:avbface:
threattonature
Veteran
The premise of this thread is dumb as hell. The existence of hand checking and how NBA has made it such an emphasis to allow freedom of movement off the ball alone has helped open up the three point game. Not to mention allowing zone defense or the quasi zone defense so many teams use now. In the 90s you were forced rule wise to either do a hard double or be attached to your man which gave post players and players with one on one ability either more room to work or completely left someone wide open. It's not like there weren't players back then who could stroke it. It was just frowned upon a lot more to take a lot of three point shots, they were looked at almost as a last resort or unless you are wide open. So to use the difference in three point shooting to demonstrate the current era teams somehow being better is ridiculous. In reality I think it would just reconfigure who would've been shining. Just to use the old Knicks players like Derek Harper, Charlie Ward, Starks would have a rough time even getting clock in today's era. But at the same time I don't see a player like Harden killing like he is if a player is allowed to be up in your chest and controlling you with his hands.
I think players like Dale Ellis, Mike Adams, Chris Jackson (Adbul-Rauf), Mark Price in today's era with free reign to shoot at any opening.
I think players like Dale Ellis, Mike Adams, Chris Jackson (Adbul-Rauf), Mark Price in today's era with free reign to shoot at any opening.
The Western Conference in 1996-97
1. Utah Jazz (64-18)
2. Seattle Supersonics (57-25)
3. Houston Rockets (57-25)
4. Los Angeles Lakers (56-26)
5. Portland Trail Blazers (49-33)
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (40-42)
7. Phoenix Suns (40-42)
8. Sacramento Kings (36-46)
Also in the year you mentioned, 1995-96, there were two teams who made the playoffs in the West that didn't have over .500 records. And I'm sure there were several other years in the 90's where similar scenarios occurred.
Teams with losing records making the playoffs isn't anything new, it's been happening since the beginning of the league. It's bound to happen when you have a league where the majority of teams makes the playoffs.
Also factor in that the players nowadays come in at a younger age, when Anthony Davis, Durant, Rose, Wall etc. were the same age as the players you listed, they were already several years into the league. So yes you can make the argument that players weren't as good from day 1, but when they were the same age as most of those guys you listed they were top notch players anyway