Charles Barkley and Tracy McGrady Are Wrong: The NBA is Far Better Now Than it Was in the Old Man 90s
By Jason McIntyre
Charles Barkley: “The NBA is watered down, worst I’ve seen it.” – TNT
Tracy McGrady: “For [Stephen Curry] to be the first player to be unanimously MVP – it just tells you how watered down our league is.” – ESPN
This is poppycock. It’s not a hot take; it’s an opinion from two former players who want you off their lawn, immediately.
A producer on the set of the shows Barkley and McGrady yap on should show them this fantastic, well-researched post by Jason Lisk last month: Anyone who wants to compare the ’96 Bulls to the ’16 Warriors need to look at the ages of the players. The stars of the mid-90s were at the tail end of their prime; the stars of today are in their prime.
1997 NBA scoring leaders:
1. Michael Jordan age: 33, Chicago, 29.6 ppg
2. Karl Malone, age: 33, Utah, 27.4 ppg
8. Hakeem Olajuwon, age: 34, Houston, 23.2 ppg
9. Patrick Ewing, age: 34, New York, 22.4 ppg
The mid-90s – remember, this is years after Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas, the dominant players of the 1980s, had retired – were full of future Hall of Famers near the end of their career. The young stars were Shaq (24), Allen Iverson (21), Grant Hill (24), Glenn Robinson (24), Jerry Stackhouse (22), Chris Webber (23) and Penny Hardaway (25).
Shaq had immense success. He became a major star, a Top 20 player in NBA history. Allen Iverson was a certifiable star, got to the Finals once, but was never a pass-first point guard and had mediocre teammates. You could argue he had as much value culturally as he did on the court. Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway were exceptional talents whose careers were crippled by injuries. Robinson was a #1 pick, and Stackhouse a stud in high school and college, but neither morphed into an Alpha Dog in the NBA.
Two other easy ways to look at how wrong Barkley and McGrady were about the mid-90s compared to today: 1) The drafts of the late-80s and early 90s were terrible (1988-1991; remember, the 1986 draft was a dumpster fire too, hurt badly by the death of Len Bias before his career even began) and 2) When the superstars of the early 90s retired (Jordan, Mailman, Olajuwon, Ewing), and the Shaq/Kobe Lakers era ended, the NBA had a dark 5-year run until LeBron emerged and the “Joining Forces” era (ie, Celtics) began.
2016 NBA scoring leaders:
1. Stephen Curry, age: 27, Golden State, 30.1 ppg
2. James Harden, age: 26, Houston, 29.0 ppg
3. Kevin Durant, age: 27, OKC, 28.2 ppg
4. DeMarcus Cousins, age: 25, Sacramento, 26.9 ppg
5. LeBron James, age: 31, CLeveland, 25.3 ppg
6. Damian Lillard, age: 25, Portland, 25.1 ppg
7. Anthony Davis, age: 22, New Orleans, 24.3 ppg
8. DeMar DeRozan, age: 26, Toronto, 23.5 ppg
9. Russell Westbrook, age 27, OKC, 23.5 ppg
10. Paul George, age: 25, Indiana, 23.1 ppg
Younger doesn’t necessarily mean better, but of Top 25 scorers in the NBA this season, only two – LeBron (5) and Carmelo (13) are over the age of 30 (there were nine in 1997). The league now is younger, far more athletic, and the shooters are much better than 20 years ago.
In 1996-1997, only eight teams were averaging over 100 ppg; eight teams were scoring under 95 ppg. In 2015-2016, 23 teams are averaging 100 ppg; no teams were under 97 ppg. Three-point shooting is way up: 13 teams made 500 3-pointers in 1997; 27 teams made over 500 3-pointers in 2016.
Comparing across generations is a fool’s errand, but to these eyes, it’s clear the rule changes have led to a much better offensive NBA, one loaded with players who are gifted at scoring.
The hagiography of the 1990s NBA has gotten out of control. You know the players by name; the best ones are in the Hall of Fame. That brand of basketball was much more physical. Some of the battles were legendary.
But that doesn’t mean today’s NBA is “watered down.”