What was the best era of basketball?

[Bang]

todays era is the best...i bet all of now era superstars can beat 80's, 70's and will win in a blow out game against the 50's!

No way. Those superstars are just Jordan wannabees who only can score and no center except Shaq or Duncan (if you consider him a C) is even close to the Centers of any other era, and most of the forwards are worse as well. Anyone can score if you give them 50 shots. Even Dennis Rodman said that the great 72-10 record Chicago Bulls wouldn't be able to beat the teams in the 80s. I mean, just look at all the players they had. It's also because the league was smaller. Imagine if all the best Bobcats, Timberwolves, Heat, Hornets, Magic players (all expansion teams from 1988 on...) were transferred to other teams. None of today's teams can stand a chance against 90s or 80s teams. I'm not sure about 70s...weren't they dominated by Kareem? Kareem's Bucks would probably crush all today's teams though.

[Indy]

todays era is the best...i bet all of now era superstars can beat 80's, 70's and will win in a blow out game against the 50's!

Please, please tell me you're kidding.

[Jeffx]

I just wish I could get ESPN Classic here in Canada without Satellite. They won't carry it in cable because it will take viewers from Canadian channels like TSN and SportsNet.

And Jeff, you brought up a great point about rivalries. I'll give the 90's Knicks vs. Heat, and Bulls vs. The League, but the 80's had so many of them. Between the Celtics, Lakers, Pistons, and many more. And they seemed to mean more. I can remember the NBA advertising 'The Battle of Canada' for Raptors-Grizzlies games in the late 90's. Not only were none of the players Canadian, but the cities didn't really care either.

Sixers-Celtics(these early 80s playoffs were WARS)
Sixers-Lakers(they met three times in the Finals - '80, '82 & '83)
Celtics-Lakers('nuff said)
Lakers-Rockets(Houston knocked LA out of the playoffs twice, '81 & '86)
Celtics-Pistons(blood feud - Isiah & Larry still hate each other)
Lakers-Pistons(just as nasty)
Pistons-Bulls(near the end of the 80s, this rivalry heated up)

Expansion killed the NBA during the 90s. In the 80s, there were more good teams. They never made the Finals, but they gave the big boys fits. Milwaukee was the best team that never won a title. They had Marques Johnson & Sidney Moncreif. Too bad they kept running into Boston & Philly in the playoffs. Bernard King's Knicks & 'Nique's Hawks gave Boston all they could handle. The Nets had a good squad with Albert King, Sugar Ray, Darryl Dawkins & Buck Williams. The Spurs had Gervin, Mike Mitchell & Johnny Moore. The Mavs had Perkins, Aguirre, Ro Blackman & Derek Harper. Utah(with a young Karl Malone) came on near the end of the decade. Both the Mavs & Jazz took LA to seven game series in '88.

And I hope that Anthony kid was joking. Back in the day, cats could hit a 15-foot 'J'.

[air gordon]

none of the above

i'd have to say the mid-80's to the mid 90's

back in the 80's, the league was starting to really prosper. the magic-bird/lakers-celtics rivalry was going strong. plus there were fierce rivalries in the East amongst philly, detroit, boston, atl.

i think the best part of this time period was watching the transition/the "passing of the mantle". magic & bird were still great but players like hakeem, jordan, barkley, etc were coming into their own. back then, the superstars became superstars because they won, not because they had big contract/endorsement deals, or the press/media were shoving them down our throats

detroit and then chicago eventually got to the top, but not without storied struggles.

it was a great time. and once jordan retired, this era ended and the nba went through MJ withdrawal, searching frantically to find his replacement

[Jeffx]

it was a great time. and once jordan retired, this era ended and the nba went through MJ withdrawal, searching frantically to find his replacement

They tried with Kobe, but once he got in trouble, they made LeBron the new poster-boy.

[twolvezfanfoever]

I would say the 90's fa sho.I know enough bout the past to know that the 90's was the best.Come on Jordan.That what it was all about.The 80's is a close second cuz of the lakers-celtics rivalry

[putodelagoa]

none of the above

i'd have to say the mid-80's to the mid 90's

Amen.

[The X]

I'd have to agree with Air Gordon's call....it probably culminated with the the 1993 NBA Finals win by John Paxson and the Bulls over Frank Johnson and the Suns....

and for those of you who haven't watched any History of the NBA videos or ESPN Classic, you must!!! To see Bird and Nique both in their primes going at it was great....not much D, but was great....to see Bird steal that pass from Isiah....Magic was great....

[Andrew]

none of the above

i'd have to say the mid-80's to the mid 90's

Agreed...if you want to include the 80s and 90s as one large era that would be my choice. But sticking to the choices EG presented, 90s remains my pick.

[cyanide]

Not so many months ago, I would have chosen the 90s, but after getting into ESPN Classics, I've grown more appreciation for the era before.

EXACTLY. I know a lot of people picked the 90's because of what they grew up with, but since I have NBA Raptors TV, I catch a lot of games from the 80's, and it's amazing. They can pass, they can shoot, and they can run. The rivalries with Magic and Bird, the young Jordan, it's just phenomenal to watch. They play smart basketball with a mix of fundamentals and flair. It's just beautiful to watch; pure basketball at its best, and my vote goes out to the 80's.

[Jeffx]

They play smart basketball with a mix of fundamentals and flair. It's just beautiful to watch; pure basketball at its best, and my vote goes out to the 80's.

BINGO!

[pickandroll]

80's by far

[Andrew]

Hard to disagree with that statement, but I feel the 90s continued those traditions, though perhaps moreso early in the decade rather than the latter years.

[pickandroll]

Hard to disagree........

Yes, 80's era started from 1980 and finished in 1992

[J@3]

I don't see how that's numerically possible.

[Matthew]

I still think its interesting how people forget how good the 90's was defensively. Scoring may have been down (especially in the lockout season of 99), but its not becuase of a lack of offensive skills. The defensive aspect just evolved so quickly. It's not like every team in the 90's ran the ball down the court and jacked up a 30 footer. There was some beatiful basketball. Just some examples:
MJ and Pippen playing as the best duo in the league history on both ends of the court.
Stockton and Malone working that pick and roll to bamboozle more talented opponents (think back to the 98 conference finals and what they did to the Lakers)
Hakeem and Clyde winning the ring from the 6th seed
Rookies like Dunca, Shaq, Iverson and Grant Hill changing the game
Shaq and Penny carrying the Magic to the finals in just their 2nd season together
Great teams such as the 93 suns, 92 blazers, 96 sonics and the Jazz in 97 and 98 playing great in the finals but not good enough.
Jordans return.
The Dream Team

Some may say the 90's lacked a great rivalry. But I think the Bulls vs the rest of the feild was probably better for the game. It was a great time to follow the game and dont discount 5 or 6 great players who never won a ring thanks to the bulls dominance. If it wasnt for the bulls being so great, barkley, ewing, stockton and malone would all have rings. But they didnt becuase of chicago. Does that make them any less great?

[putodelagoa]

I think it's also interesting to note some of the darker sides of all the eras. The 50s saw a professional game in its relative infancy, with violence commonplace as athletes and officials alike grew accustomed to the sport. The 60s saw wide-spread gamefixing scandals, especially in college. The 70s saw a rivalry between two sports leagues that led to rifts and lawsuits. The 90s saw the birth of the spoiled athlete and a lockout. And just to be fair, the 80s had the mullet.

[img]http://www.jsonline.com/sports/buck/image/2000/play/smits427.jpg[img][/img]
Someone carried the 80's legacy well into the 90's...

[Sauru]

imo the 80's had the best rivalries and thats what drives sports if you ask me. sure you can bring up some good rivalries from other eras, bulls/pistons, wilt/bill, so on and so on, but i think the ones in the 80's were just better and more plentifull. just my opinion though