Who wishes they watched bball in the 90s?

[Fresh8]

.. well fellas, I feel jibbed....

I was watching Reggie Miller's ceremony and then re-watched Karl Malone's and Scottie Pippen's. Well.. its not like I was taking a trip down memory lane (Becuase I dont have that many memories of that era in basketball) but... it was real nice and sad to see these guys going.

I know thread shave been made about this before. And Andrew always mentions topics like this but I just wanted to say that the 90s era, to me, was probably the bets era of basketball that a fan could experience.

When I watched highlights and watched these videos, I'm just in awe. It just seemed so exciting. I can feel why the Bulls were the most loved team in the NBA and how they might have been hated by a few teams... And I can feel how the Knicks would have felt when they came to play against the Pacers...

And I dunno... for some reason, I really feel that basketball in the 90s was about basketball. Not high flying stars, money and shoe contracts and all those other attrractions and endorsement deals to make money.

It sucks that I missed all the drama and the suspence of the ups and downs of the NBA. I would give anythnig to watch the Bulls dominate in 96-97. What about Hakeem Olajuwan, Patrick Ewing (Maybe he was overrated...), David Robinson, the Young Shaq and all the other great big men of that era. What about John Stockton and Karl Malone: They perfected the pick and roll.

I missed the Pacers-Knicks at MSG and Nick Van Exel and the Lakers. Muggsy Bogues and the Hornets with Larry Johnson and Zo <-- They were all on a roster at some stage right?

And then great shooters like Mitch Richmond and Glen Rice. And the troubles of players such as The Worm and J.R. Rider.

Oh man... the more I think about it... the more I missed.

Maybe someone like Adrew can elaborate on this... I think the 90s was truly something special... and we might not see it again in a very LONG time to come. (Especially a team like the 90s Bulls...)

[J@3]

So you didn't watch basketball in the 90's? Interesting coincidence that the Lakers title run started in 2000...

[Fresh8]

I only started playing basketball in 2001... And yeh... i didnt know basketball until i was in grade 7. And dude... I didn't even know that basketball existed... I went over to my mates house and he was checking the standings in the paper and hes like, 'I like Chicago...' and I asked who i should like and he said, 'go for LA'... that was in 2000. But I will tell you, my first favourite Laker was Derek Fisher and then Tyronn Lue.

EDIT: Also.. I'm only 17 man... and its not my fault that bball isnt popular over here... i was a swimmer and followed Kieran Perkins more than any other sport.

[Andrew]

Obviously my view of the 90s is somewhat biased, with the Bulls' success and Michael Jordan but I think there is something special about that era since it's when basketball really took off worldwide, there was so much great action, great players and great characters, too. There were some really good stories of that era surrounding not only the games themselves but the players too, and how they made the league. John Starks' success story, Dan Majerle being booed on draft day then winning the Suns' fans over...I could go on and on, and that's not taking into account the stars of the decade.

I'll post more later but for now I'll say that I do believe the 90s was a very special era, and there are some things I certainly miss about it (aside from the specific players of the day).

[macca33]

i was only little in the 90s but i would have loved to watch jordan in his prime, along with shaq, reggie, malone/stockton and even david robinson... watching some of mj's dunks and scoring sprees throughout the bulls dynasty has me wishing that i was 10 years older...

...but the NBA has a very bright future with guys such as lebron, melo, wade, amare, paul, howard, bosh etc. making a name for themselves early on in their careers, so im hoping that it makes up for missing the 90s

[shadowgrin]

The 90's NBA. Ah, me good memories. Now this thread is making me wish that I should have watched more games during the 80's.

[koberulz]

So you didn't watch basketball in the 90's? Interesting coincidence that the Lakers title run started in 2000...

you know what, i'm in the same boat there...picked up nba courtside 2002 for my gcn god knows when, not having a clue about the nba. of course the lakers were the default team, so i just used them, and it kind of went on from there.

i did, however, get to see mj play....once. ordered a dvd from pontel from '98...kobe vs mj. pity i didnt get to see him play more. oh well, theres always more dvds.

[J@3]

I just watched a game from 2003, Lakers vs Wizards with Kobe going for 40+ points by half time. MJ just vanished in that game, it was strange.

[Laxation]

i wish i watched basketball before this season

[Masilo]

The 90's NBA. Ah, me good memories. Now this thread is making me wish that I should have watched more games during the 80's.

Same for me. I wish I had the chance to see Magic, Bird and Dr. J.

As I began watching the NBA for the season 1997/1998, so the early 90s to mid-90s would be nice, too.

[benji]

Well, we do have the 90s to blame for slowing the pace of the game. The pace since 1995 is lower than it was in 1956. 1999's pace was even slower than 1955, the first year of the shot clock.

The 1990s were also a time of a ton of expansion. Six teams added in six years. Only the 70s were another time of major expansion and that involved the folding of an entire league into the NBA.

[Pera]

I wish i could watch games in the 90+s

[The_Flying_Tomato]

yeah, i'm a year younger than Sit. I missed the 90s too. MJ started playing before I was born.

[The X]

I think the decade was good & bad....I really think you guys are overrating it a little....

nothing was more boring than the Houston-New York NBA Finals in 1994....this was the era when certain teams started to play more negatively....

but all that being said, highlights from early 90s are great, & I do know that once MJ came out of retirement in the 94/95 season, it really did rejuvenate the decade....

[Cloudy]

90's was ok, but I really want to watch the Magic vs. Bird era.

[Jugs]

i didn't watch basketball when i was young but i started to get into basketball around 1998, Michael Jordan was the man who inspired me into playing basketball.

[Its_asdf]

I also never watched basketball in the 90s... The only thing I knew at that time was that Michael Jordan was really good and the Toronto Raptors were really bad.

[samson1028]

i was lucky enough to catch some basketball in the 90's. but only some due to lack of boardcasting of nba in my country.

the game today changed a lot. they focus more on the outside shooting. i think this is the result of the change of rules about the contact a defender can give. i still prefer the old games where there is more penetration.

anyway when i was real young, i thought basketball was for the ladies. i was a soccer fan back then. and now, i find basketball much more happening than soccer since some plays in soccers are jus the players kicking the ball with no idea where it is goin to.

[BIG GREEN]

Shit ive been into basketball so long..i remember both magic and bird's retirements..and i remember watching them play. Back then i wasn't so much into ball..but the late 80's - early 90's i only knew a couple players including them and wilkens, jordan etc. I'm glad i didnt miss the 90's..cause thats when i really got into it.

[1CenT]

penny, nick anderson, dennis scott, horace grant, shaq - the young orlando magic team storming the nba, beating the MJ and his bulls in his first season in return...
luv those days...
grant hill and the pistons.. man grant hill was doing like 22 points 9 rebounds 8 assists and 2 steals those days..

i luv the all-star lineup wtih penny, jordan, pippen, hill and shaq
4 wing players.

[debiler]

I miss those days a bit. Not that the game itself was better, but the overall flair has changed. You had characters like Jordan, Barkley, Pippen, Olajuwon, Reggie, Ewing, Rodman...and so on. Those were the days when noone but Jordan could post 50 points from time to time.
But it may also be the TV broadcasting of the 90s that I miss. Back in the 90s, there were one-hour summaries of two games a week plus one live game every sunday night over here in germany. Now, there's nothing. Right. NOTHING. You can get the same package only on pay-TV! Shitty german commentary included. I tell you, those guys can't even make a cavs-lakers game sound interesting. The last NBA game I saw was the all star game. All info I get is from box scores and nba.com. I really miss the 90s, when I stayed up til 4 a.m. to watch the rockets-magic finals (which were also covered live) and completely fucked up in school the next day. Ah, those memories...
There is no legal way to watch NBA games over the internet for free, right? With american commentary, of course.

Man, this thread really takes me back. Back to the days when basketball was an adventure. Maybe if they brought it back on free TV, the passion would return. *sigh*

[debiler]

penny, nick anderson, dennis scott, horace grant, shaq - the young orlando magic team storming the nba, beating the MJ and his bulls in his first season in return...

Yeah, and remember Nick Anderson's free throw-trauma? Was it in game 1 against the rockets? He just needed to make ONE DAMN free throw. But he missed four straight and Orlando lost. He wasn't able to recover from that. Those four shots completely ruined his career. Good stuff...

[artestfighttrainer]

Just like what people posted the 90's were great times but wish I saw the 80's. Fave moments for me in the 90's were MJ and the Bulls, Miller Time against the Knicks, Magic's comeback in 95 I think, Grant Hill, Dennis Rodman and some of his crazy antics (I got that vid when he kicks the cameraman in the groin somewhere), The Dream and Houston Rockets Back2Back, Shawn Kemp before drugs and having too many children with too many women, Isiah Rider East Bay Funk Dunk, Shaq breaking the ring and too many more to mention. Sweet times watching it on tele, In Oz, NBA Game of the Week on 12noon Sats and NBA Action before it I think and Nba Inside Stuff on Sundays. Damn they better bring NBA back to free 2 air tele here but thank god for chinese net tele for providing it for me.

If I wanted to see something quite further back it would definitely be that 5 or 6 OT game between Celts and Suns in i think the 60's. Anyone got a Delorean with a Flux Capacitor they don't wanna use?

I'm really glad to get back into the basketball/nba scene because I originally got into it about halfway or last q of 94 (must of been about 10 and a half or 11) the time before bball got really big in Australia for a 3-4 yr period (I really miss those great days). I was quite interested in it when I was smaller but only knew the great superstars MJ, Magic and Bird. When I got into High School in 97 thats when it started to die down quite a lot because for most people it was a fad and mainly the basketball cards were the things most people liked about nba/basketball (nbl which is the aussie league 4 ppl who don't know was getting popular at the time too but 90% ppl liked nba better, i hated nbl at the time but im cool with it now, can't believe i booed shane heal when he took free throws at a magic johnson all star legends tour game, damn wish magic played he was injured 4 that game in syd, saw james worthy tho). I still loved bball/nba but I sort of followed a bit of the decline. At the end of 97 then the beginning of 98 thats when bball popularity was nearly at its death then about middle of 98 it finally died where I was. I don't know what was big after that, I'm sure for kids it was Pokemon but for teens at the time I can't remember. I was still playing bball in 98 but really lost interest just like everyone else in nba. In 99 I finally stopped playing bball because quite a few ppl I played bball with didn't play properly and acted like f**knuts which really put me off and ppl lost interest in it because it wasn't popular and so did I. I followed soccer/football after bball for a few years but now I think of it as "fast-kicking, low scoring, and ties", bball is much more exciting. Being in Sydney the Summer Games were held in 2k and a friend told me about Vince Carter doing that dunk over Weis and I had no f****** clue who was Vince Carter. I got some education on players I did not know during the 4-5 yrs I missed following the L playing Live 2003 on PC and I found out who Vince Carter was. I really got back into NBA when I played Live 2004 and followed the L again around 04 Post Season and I made sure I found out what happened around the league between 98-99 to 03-04 seasons. Finally got back into playing bball just for fun last year.
I really regret that I stopped playing bball and following bball scene/nba during those years but right now I'm definitely making it up.

The lesson out of my story is..... there is a lot of money to be made out of fads that children get into. If you can get in and out at the right time and sell a $*itload of merchandise or products you can be rich Biatch! Also playing Basketball and following the NBA is the best!

[hipn]

I just started watchign ball the season Bosh was drafted or 1 season before that. I showed no intrest in basketball in the past... so I started watching like 4 years ago and I have to say I love it.

If I had the chance to go back in time and watch those games in the 90's, then sure, why not...

But if you asked me to watch those games NOW, then no... I don't like watching reruns of sports games. Sports games are meant to be shown live.

[Carmo]

Sports games are meant to be shown live.

Yes but they are also meant to be shown delayed or replayed or otherwise they wouldn't do it.