LeBron James on playing 82 Games today compared to the 80s/90s: “I want people/our fans to understand playing 82 games in the 80s and 90s is not the same as playing 82 games in the 2020s. It’s just not.”
It’s the amount of ground they have to cover not the amount of contact
There’s more quick sprints and more running because of the three point shot, putting teams into the blender and rotations/closeouts on open shooters.
I wouldn’t actually say it’s even the pace, which is how many possession per game. It’s the amount of ground covered per possession.
Running around screens too
People need to actually go watch a game from 1990 and pay attention to how much the offense moves and how much guys are actually sprinting in the halfcourt sets. Even when guys were running to come off a screen back then, it wasn’t as fast as how guys do now.
Even like 10 years ago there was an idea of “hiding” your worst defender on the opposing team’a worst scoring threat, or “resting” your offensive star by planting them on some spot-up guys sitting in the corner.
Now with so much on-ball and off-ball movement, to say nothing of having to cover 10 feet further out and recover back far more offensive than before, there’s no place for bad defenders to hide or for tired offensive weapons to take defensive plays off.
I think I’ve seen a few compilations of less than average defenders getting absolutely hunted this year, the switch/screen game has really brought out some analytical assasins
Well everyone was spacing out to 15 ft as well. lol
I’m surprised no one has gone back and analyzed an entire season from the 90s and early 2000s. I’m sure you could figure out through TV feeds how much players ran and their speeds and start/stops per game compared to todays game.
Not to mention spacing from 80/90/early 00s was non-existent
More spacing means more space to cover
I do think it’s much harder to play defense now than in the past which in turn has made offense much easier.
Defense requires so much more effort now compared to the past. While on offense there’s just much more freedom of movement which is why points and efficiency are at an all time high.
I do think there might need to be some change to tip the balance to defense in someway so there isn’t so much ground to cover,
There’s more non contact injuries now, but more contact injuries in the past
My main rule change would be if an offensive player initiates contact it’s not a foul on the defender.
Not much you can do about the spacing problem. Every team is filled with skilled shooters now.
i don’t even think NBA players are talking about possessions per game when they say “pace” most of the time. they are probably talking about how much movement there is each possession like you said.
When players talk about pace they definitely do not talk about the stat that tracks possessions per 48 minutes.
Pace used to be crazy high too way back in the day. They used to basically just make a single drive and chuck up a shot.
It’s definitely not pace.
But come on, you can’t in good faith say there’s no difference in the speed (and size) of the players on the court. That’s the “pace” they’re talking about here.
I don’t really see how they reduce injuries going forward without rules changes to slow the pace back down. Hard to say how much medical advancement is possible to prevent overuse. Maybe just a slow trend away from the philosophy of having single players or 2⁄3 “star” players towards balanced deeper rosters so the players can spread their minutes out throughout the game. Something has to give one way or another
Have it be like hockey and let players jump on and off the bench during the play /s
Basketball would unironically be better with line changes so there’s fewer stoppage in play.
Edit: oh no people took me seriously
I’ve been saying this for years. Would make the game much more exciting. Would probably result in a lot of break-away, fast-break cherry picking though unless they also add an offsides rule.
Players are only allowed to enter the court on their own baseline maybe? and have to wait for their teammate to fully exit the court. Would be absolute chaos though and it will never happen lol
That’s exactly how Handball does it. Except the baseline part, there’s a dedicated section of the sideline at each bench instead.
It’s not chaotic at all, it’s just happening in the flow of the game, like a rotation on defense.
However it results in specialists who only play offense or defense, which has huge implications in terms of roster construction. Imagine Luka literally subbing out on every defensive possession that’s not a fast break, the slander would be unimaginable. But that’s the optimal strategy under that ruleset so it’d be bound to happen.
I would hate that. Players should have to play both sides of the ball. It’s what I dislike about football, so much specialization means the quarterbacks don’t even see each other outside of handshakes. Even if a player is an offensive or defensive specialist in basketball, they still gotta be around on the other side and it impacts roster construction
It’s what I dislike about football, so much specialization means the quarterbacks don’t even see each other outside of handshakes.
I like that aspect, same as how pitchers don’t ever share the field. It’s kind of like a rap battle sort of scenario where both parties have their own turn to talk their shit and respond to the gauntlet being laid down
To combat this, the rules could specify that once a player checks out they have to remain out for a specific amount of time.
Yeah or an interchange cap for the game, thats what we have in Australian football and it works well.
I don’t know, I feel like it would make the game even faster. Which given the context of this post, would lead to further injury.
It would make it a lot more fun from a fan perspective, though.
Basketball with an offsides rule would be hilarious lmfao
They should add icing as well
They should also allow hitting like hockey
Draymond salivating at the thought of this.
Draymond is a bitch. He’d get exposed in seconds if actual hitting was allowed
If hitting were allowed Draymond would be dead
It’s interesting to think about how certain players’ value would be significantly impacted if hitting was allowed. Would Steven Adams be a max level player under these rules?
And put trampolines in the court
They don’t make new stoppages for subs, they have to wait till a stoppages occurs befire a player subs in
Thank you
Anything that reduced the amount of stoppages in play would never be allowed because ads
Each team doesn’t need 7 fucking timeouts, with 4 of those timeouts being mandatory. But money is gonna money
Yeah and make the court the size of a football field.
Would be funny to see with the team still covering Steph as he’s sitting down on the bench.
Too many men on the court should be a penalty. The other team gets a 30 second powerplay
I mean you joke but I would love to see something like that. Or at least shifting the model to be more like hockey where players play like half the game; non-goalie hockey players tend to top out at under 30 mpg and those games are 60 minutes. That would put NBA players at like 20-25 mpg, and they could go all-out for the stints they play.
The problem is that star players are orders of magnitude better than the 6th-8th best players on the roster. You’ll never see coaches willingly sacrifice those minutes.
They already are, just to a lesser extent. League leaders routinely had 40-44 mpg in the 80s through the early 2000s and 44+ in the 60s and 70s(Lebron led the league with 42.4 mpg his second season in the league, for example), and nowadays it’s unusual for stars to play over 36 mpg and guys like Giannis and SGA typically play 32-34.
Imagine proposing to coaches in 2001, when 13 players had 40+ mpg and the entire All-NBA first team had at least 39 mpg that the best players play 34 mpg. They’d probably say “you’ll never see coaches willingly sacrifice those minutes”.
Just clone Mikal bridges and put a mikal on every team
I mean the wnba messed with that lol
this would be fun as hell to watch lol. all star game rules?
Fewer games/eliminating back to backs but they would never do that. I also wonder if we’ll see a decrease in how many minutes star players average or even expanded rotations if the pace keeps up
fewer games is the most logical solution but everyone would have to agree to less money. i wish they would though, 82 is just too many
Not just less money, the future generations of players would have their legacies basically deflated because of fewer games.
I’ve heard people tossing the idea of a “first to 100” system. Maintain shot clock, but get rid of the game timer and the first team to score 100 points wins. I kinda like it in theory but no idea how the lucrative commercial break spread would work for those really efficient offenses lol.
I’d be interested in one of those gimmicky offseason tournaments trying this
I also like the idea of it in theory, but in practice this would be a nightmare for stats and records. Imagine comparing eras. Almost every single game would be less than 48 minutes, likely by quite a few minutes.
Maybe they could do it for an exhibition game, like a preseason game or the NBA Cup final
Theres no guarantee a first to 100 wins is going to solve it. Wouldn’t teams just go even harder to get to 100 first?
Maybe not harder but they’re NOT going to play their stars less.
Would be cool to test. Absolutely right though all the stats would be totally ruined, but it would pave the way for a totally new way of looking at those stats. If 1 point = 1% of a win it totally changes how a player is viewed. And imagine how much nicer the end of games would be without the insane stoppages that are all based around the clock?
Probably too big of a leap for the league, but I agree seeing this structure in preseason/NBA cup would be really dope.
Only thing I can think of is either eliminate the corner 3 or make it 3 seconds in the corner.
Would hurt spacing but also make it less ground defenses have to cover
Before you add new experimental rules you have to try to enforce moving screens. I have a feeling so much defensive rotation starts because a guy gets taken out by NFL lineman style screens and then the D has to rotate to help
Yep, I think contrary to oldschool beliefs, players are better defenders today. The issue is it’s so damn hard to play elite defense when offense gets so many advantages such as moving screens, gather step and carrying.
Enforce those rules and it’ll be a better game.
Just my weekly comment sharing this video describing basically exactly that! The deciding factor in games seems to be drawing defensive fouls and offenses are allowed to commit offensive fouls that would’ve been called 10-15 years ago. “If you meet the defender at his chest, then you didn’t beat the defender.”
Thinking Basketball - The NBA is Letting Offenses do whatever they want
It’s tough cause casuals will watch the game and think these defenders look like traffic cones because they get scored on. The reality is the defenders are already keeping up to the best of their ability, while rotating to adjust against much more elaborated offensive plays, and not just a simple PNR or throwing it to let the post player work.
I think anybody that has played defense against any meaningful competition will agree that something like a moving screen or the player picking up their pivot early, or carrying to create a new angle makes defending extra hard, because it’s not part of your subconscious to consider those illegal things.
Yeah. I’m almost 30 now but I played high school ball with and against a good number of top athletes including a few guys y’all would know the names of since they played in the nba or had crazy March madness runs. I’m barely 6’ in shoes and weighed 135lbs at the time. Trying to defend any of them using nba rules without moving screen calls, offensive fouls, and changing of pivot foot would’ve been nearly impossible for me. It was already hard enough even for my teammates who were way better athletes than me. You can’t account for fighting through it every possession. Maybe eventually defenses will adjust but I’m just not seeing that happen tbh.
My dumb idea is that the active roster should be expanded to 15 players and that coaches should be encouraged to run 12 man rotations during the regular season
I don’t think it’s a dumb idea I think it’s the best idea, force the coaches to use all the players have minute restrictions for everyone like cap space. It ensures longevity gives your players load management, also ensures everyone plays and have more playing time most importantly brings chaos!
It’ll never happen but I believe they could reduce to 40 games and make up a lot of the revenue with higher TV revenue.
NFL makes more money than the NBA with one game playoff elimination and 17 regular season games because every game means something.
NBA has so many games that nearly no one watches. Reduce the games - increase the product on the court and make the product more scarce.
You could make it 60 games, everyone plays one game F-Sun and one game M-Th, with no back-to-backs, and then get rid of one round of the playoffs to make it top 3 get in, plus 4-5 have a play-in. That would be a sane schedule but it’s less basketball, which in theory makes less money, but I do agree that they could offset some of the lower volume of games with higher margins on fewer games.
Make it 58 games and then you play each team once away and once at home.
Been saying it for years, 58 games. Balanced schedule where every team plays each other in a home/away. Of course I would also want them to axe the conferences and put the top 8 teams in a single bracket, but that’s where I really seem to lose people.
Bringing back more handchecking would help slow the pace considerably imo
and camping in the paint, sloowww game
Yes! Bring back defense!
I’m sure all the extra miles from AAU ball today don’t help.
Thank you. I’ve been saying this for years. Today’s players enter the league with more basketball mileage on their legs than some pros in the 80s ever managed to accumulate.
same.
No one wants to talk about it though because then, as always, god forbid the people who run AAU lose money
These guys probably have worst joints at 20 than nba players up until the 90’s after they’d retired.
You want guys to play longer? Stop playing 24/7/365 at age 10
I’ve always harped on this.
It’s such a double edged sword because it’s clear as day that the league is substantially more talented but when I hear how pro sports are marred with injuries and everyone points at this, that, and the other it’s obviously that combination but youth sports are the biggest boogeyman.
20 to 50 games a season starting at 8 years old possibly? They’re lucky more careers haven’t gotten cut short to line the pockets of this system tbh
What’s crazy is there is no need for AAU anyhow. Everyone would be much better off taking the money they spend on AAU and putting it towards training sessions. Most of the AAU teams in this area practice maybe once a week and then show up on weekends and play 6 games in 36 hours. Foreign players are actually getting developed and it shows.
It’s the same with baseball. Back in the day pitching injuries often stemmed from overuse (you start the game you finish the game type mentality) so the sport has seen a course correction to utilizing deep bullpens and limiting innings/pitch counts. A top college prospect, for example, will probably have a limitation on how much he throws as he progresses through the minors and early stages of an MLB career.
The injuries haven’t stopped though. Because although a starter pitches less of an overall game, many have been taught to put max effort into every single pitch. The strain caused by such an unnatural motion is multiplied by trying to get the most speed and movement possible. Pitching prospects frequently have had major procedures like Tommy John surgery done in high school or college. It’s ridiculous.
And I think an often under appreciated element is kids in the 80s largely didn’t specialize. You stopped playing basketball. Played baseball. You stopped playing baseball to play football. Repeat.
So you were always using muscles differently and broadening general health. Now kids are playing hoops exclusively 12 months a year. Same with hockey or gymnastics or other sports. I think that does have a negative downstream impact on many things we are seeing now.
It’s funny how people say Luka is “old” in terms of basketball age because he’s been playing pro in Europe since like 15 but it’s not unlikely that if he was in the US system playing AAU that he wouldn’t have ended up playing more games because the AAU system is so taxing with so many games often on the same day.
Do people really say that about Luka? I think the way he plays - not athletic, more of an old man style he’s going to be playing for another 20 years.
Diversified young athletes make healthier better adult athletes
But when college pays you to go there we get specialized young athletes who break apart by adulthood
James is really old, but just a reminder folks, he did not play in the Eighties or the Nineties.
In fact, he was born in 1984.
The era he is referring to, when he came into the league, was actually the slowest period in NBA history – slower than today, and much slower than the Eighties. James’ rookie season is tied for the second-slowest in NBA history, among those for which pace data exists.
You can just go to youtube and watch games from the 80s and 90s. Watch them through a 2026 basketball lens. And you would agree with Bron.
Not if you’re an old head. You’ll take that to the grave
No, this would require understanding whats happening on screen and 80s/90s diehards dont know anything about that.
Okay, explain how the 6 players standing dead-still watching a high pick-and-roll – which occurs on ~90% of modern NBA possessions – are “covering ground”.
They are covering the ground that they are standing on, sure, but that’s the absolute minimum, and everyone does so, out of necessity.
Watch some Steph Curry - the most emulated player in the league right now - and then consider if game is really just two people running the pick and roll. In the meantime, here’s some hard, irrefutable data that proves people aren’t just standing around:
These data points only go back to 2014, since that’s when player tracking began, but no one sober would ever argue players were running farther and faster in the 80’s as compared to 2012, much less 2026.
Steve Kerr (and LeBron in OPs comment), and the data, all agree that you’re off base on this one
Possessions per game isn’t what he’s talking about, it’s the movement required within those possessions. For many different reasons, NBA players today’s are running, cutting, and moving more than ever. The amount of stress being put on knees, ankles, and feet is the highest it’s ever been.
One of the most taxing movements in basketball is hard closing out on a shooter who then drives, and the defender must instantly decelerate and change directions.
In 2026 every defender is doing that on almost every single possession, sometimes multiple times over in the same possession. Prior to the 3pt revolution, that movement was extremely rare, because there wasn’t really “shooters” in the same way that there are today. Even good 3pt shooters weren’t getting ran off the line, as defenses would prefer a 3pt attempt over a 2pt attempt.
And that’s just a single example of one specific movement.
You missed the entire point
oh i thought he meant the private planes and trainers and chefs that travel with the team.
He should know. He was there.
I think it’ll fix itself. Teams will have deeper benches and I look forward to it. Makes it even more of a team game.
That’s actually a good point, the only thing that seems to help is just spreading those minutes out across the board
Yup Pacers really leaned into that the past playoffs
It’s a shame what happened to Hali, because the league would have tried to study their approach more had it resulted in the title.
I don’t think this is necessarily true, they had a better run than every team but one so they’re studying it regardless
This is the only direction it’s going. Soccer is already evolving like that. Deeper teams and benches. There will never be fewer games. There’s too much money involved
Teams need to actually develop their bench players and give them minutes. Especially with picks being so much more valuable now with the apron rules.
The league could feed into this that extra little bit by getting rid of the star whistle, too.
the game is faster these days but players get private jets, better medical staff, on the clock therapist, 5 star hotels. Pretty sure in the 80s/90s some players had to play the game than go wash dishes for 8 hours with a sprained ankle, not to mention so players probably had to couch surf just to make games. So let’s just call it a wash.
This comment deserves upvotes. Hakeem wrote in his biography he and other 7 footers would trade spaces with passengers to get more leg room. So in the 80s/ early 90s these dudes were flying with regular people. The trainers were wrapping them up and sending them back out. Advantages and disadvantages cut both ways
How do private jets and 5 star hotels change the fact that players move way more now?
It’s not about who had it “harder” in the literal sense but that the modern NBA is completely different in terms of on court movement
Everything has changed, that’s the game.
They play hundreds of games more before entering the league, the move more, sports medicine has made INSANE leaps, health and conditioning has skyrocketed, it’s all different and this is just a complaint that to me should fall on deaf ears and is a decision for the NBAPA to fight for but it’ll lose.
Not because the players don’t want to play less but because 10 out of 10 times the negotiation will fold at the NBA and ownership wanting to restructure contracts and lower player contracts due to lost revenue from teams and the product due to losing an asinine amount of cash from ads.
And that’ll be the end of any attempt to change game count
The minimum NBA salary in 1980 was $30k which isn’t life changing money but was 2x the national household median income.
These guys were not washing dishes for 8 hours after the game and couch surfing to make it to the games. Let’s be serious here.
Not to mention they chuck a ton of threes and don’t drive, and get a ton of breaks with free throws
Chucking threes is actually a lot of why the game is more taxing, the spacing means that defenders have to run further to close out or switch onto someone else at the perimeter. I mean, did you watch the clip? Did you see how much farther away the players were from each other? It’s a lot easier to switch onto someone and block a shot if everyone is just standing around the paint
Just look at the shoe quality back then to now
Larry Bird doesn’t injure his back laying his Mom’s drive way because it wouldn’t be allowed in his contract lol
Pretty sure MJ stated the old guys on the team when he first entered the league were drinking beers and smoking cigars in the locker room daily
Yeah came here to say this too.
He of course leaves all that out including just the simple fact of medical advances and far better overall management of players. He’s not wrong that the pace is absurd and you clearly see a difference with players covering far more ground both horizontally and vertically, but we also now have load mgmt and players/teams being more aware that a little soreness needs to be taken seriously.
Overall, I agree it’s a wash but then there’s also the fact that most players now enter the league playing ridiculous amounts of AAU and even college ball. No more 18 year olds coming out in the draft save for the Flagg.
Lastly, it may seem counterintuitive, but today’s players are actually heavier than back in the 80s while being at roughly the same height. Players like Wemby and Chet stand out quite a bit but that’s not enough to really change things. So could more injuries be a function of weighing a bit more? Probably not significant but not exactly inconsequential either.
average height and weight has barely fluctuated since the 70s.
https://runrepeat.com/height-evolution-in-the-nba
That’s extremely not true, especially when broken down by position.
He also didn’t say that the average player today is faster, stronger, and better.
Put the average 10th ma today in thr 80s and he dominates. Take the average 10th man in the 80s and he’s in the g league. Or Europe.
The overall skill of the league is so so so so much better.
This is all true. But even with the advancements in lifestyle and tech, it’s pretty well agreed that these aren’t just magic solutions to faster recovery. 90% of it is good diet, getting enough sleep, and just giving your body time to heal.
Like a high ankle sprain still takes 4-8 weeks to recover from no matter how good your tech and private jets are. There isnt much you can do to decrease that recovery time.
Shhhh, let LeBron make excuses for himself.
From Lebron and on era, players started making so much more money without even winning a championship or anything. Just get the hype going and they got instant contracts with Nike, Gatorade, Kellogg’s, etc, etc.
That’s also why in the 80s and 90s there were so many enhancers, little testing done, rare existence of sprains, ligament ruptures, etc. Just look at all the superstars and the epidemic of early hair loss (makes me think that Lebron also got part of that at least in high school)
“it’s just not”
Damn, didn’t know LeBron was that close to Bill Simmons.
I remember 2003 when league scoring was at an all-time low.
I actually prefer then to how the game is played today. Position-less basketball with nothing but 3-ball and traveling. I hate it.
Position-less basketball isn’t the problem though - there were guys in 03 like KG, Shawn Marion, etc who didn’t neatly fit in the position box. Less of them sure, but few guys were one trick ponies on offense.
I think the bigger problem is the way the game is called; defenders aren’t allowed to defend much until playoffs roll around. Handchecking was allowed back then until 2005, etc. It was much much more difficult to score back then because the game across the board was so physical, it was difficult and exhausting to drive all game, etc.
Games have been ugly, but for different reason, in almost every decade.
I do hate this era of chucking threes, travels, offense allowed to create so much contact. But, the biggest issue for me is # of timeouts and how long they last.
Euroleague/FIBA is so much better to watch and enjoy and doesn’t take 2 hours to play 48 minutes
I can’t say I hate it but between all that and foul baiting it is getting harder to watch. But hey the league gets their tik toks.
Tbh, i like the idea of pushing teams to have a deep bench.
Kinda tired of teams relying on 1 singular superstar to carry the whole team all season long.
I’d love to see this play out some way. I just think the stakes are too high for teams not to push the very best players to the brink or past it. Combine that with top players desire to compete and I just don’t see it.
Game has changed and it’s harder than ever. That’s how just sports goes
“82 games is not 82 games, I’ll explain later.”
This is such BS. Training, footwear, sports science, and recovery are dramatically better now. The whole system is built around prolonging careers… because longer careers mean more money. Guys don’t play through serious injuries the way they used to (which is a good thing) but Pretending that “pace” somehow outweighs all of these obvious advantages is obnoxious.
And yet injures are extreme and common more than they’ve ever been. But sure I’m sure you know way more than the doctors or athletes actually in this field
But you’re flying private in planes with luxury seating, staying in your own suites, and eating better food prepared by private chefs.
good point. Someone should show this to the players and maybe that will make them get injured less.
And wearin better shoes
They also don’t have private planes, advanced technology etc.
Private planes wont protect you from hundreds of moving screens hitting you like a brick wall.
You should go watch screens being set in the 80s and 90s if you think today’s screens are a brick wall.
You should watch the off ball movement of the 80s and 90s compared to now. The players now sprint and stop way more on average than before when space was limited.
They aren’t wearing Chuck Taylor’s now. They have hyperbaric chambers and other advanced recovery now. They know so much more about the body and health now. Problem is AAU.
You can’t confidently tell me that those guys in chucks were playing nearly as fast as today… AAU is a problem sure but foreign players struggle playing 82 games too. Guys like Steph run ALL GAME.
But it will help you rest and recover for the next game. They also don’t have to go to a full time job, they have the best sneakers, trainers, facilities etc.
Does anyone know why we have 82 games? I feel like just 50 games are enough
Money
This was set a long time ago, in the early 70s or so. Most teams were poor, most arenas were small, players could play 2-3 games a week without a problem. So, this schema gave economic stability to the teams, and then evolved to more money given the TV broadcast contracts.
50 or less games would mean that tickets would be even more expensive, and licenses also even more expensive. NBA is the league with most known suoerstars in the US, and second most in the world, these guys are pampered take care of that too. 50 games would nean to play x2 more intense for more games. I doubt it’d change that much
Would it not be easier today with modern training, conditioning and modern medicine and recovery? Hell travel time is surely better? Hell wouldn’t the game be less physical today?
Then we should make contracts that’s adjusted for 60 games instead of 82. Yall take a pay cut then
“Starting with the 2023-24 season, NBA players must play in at least 65 regular season games to be eligible for All-NBA Teams.”
How would he know?
Oddly enough I was at a retro bar watching 1993 hawks blazers match up and the speed and movement is pretty on par with the modern game.
I think a big part of the issue is AAU miles on kids bodies before they enter.
The second issue is that nba players today have so much more access to putting on muscle rapidly.
The legal supplements and pharmaceuticals combined with sports science and training advancments allow guys to add more muscle faster especially once they are in the league.
The problem is that the tendons and ligaments so not grow at a rate that keeps up with this especially as guys age.
That is why so many of these injuries occur in non contact scenarios. You literally have players so optimally tuned physically that the force their muscles can put out when accelerating is more than the tendons and ligaments can handle.
As for a solution thats tough. I and most fans love seeing these damn near super humans do amazing things, and the players need every advantage so they arent going to hold back at building strength.
A lot of good points and i think the kids playing more is a big deal but its also i dont think they train or recover right either
I do not track where he is coming from.
It’s very easy to track by simply watching basketball then vs now.
Yes the game is different…Less physical, better conditioning and health care…….
The game is different: it’s full flopping little babies, including LeBron.
Bron ain’t wrong tho I think the biggest thing that causes injuries isn’t the pace but the AAU mileage on newer athletes.
If the league went back to not allowing players to carry they wouldn’t be as explosive and there would be fewer injuries. The new meta is having a deep bench to get through injuries.
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The travel and carry no longer exist in the league. It’s damn near rugby within 15 feet.
The amount of times players can now plant their back foot and explode because defense has to give them room or risk a foul is crazy. Dame/tatum/hali/durant all tore their Achilles the same exact way. Back foot plant and explode.
You just didn’t have that as often 30 years ago. You had to do more side to side movement to create space
Shut up Butter Bron
This is a BS, IMO the 80’s and 90’s was a much more of a physical grind and players played in canvas shoes.
Trash take, the pace of the NBA is the fastest it’s ever been putting way more strain on the body..if you have ever played a sport in your life you know how taxing moving at a quick speed for long periods can rough up your body.
sounds like bull to me.
his last 2 season he was relatively healthy he played 70 and 71 as a 39 and 40 yo.
he had similar stretches just a few more games in his cleveland years when he was much younger.
The idea that he would play 82 games with the medicine of the 80’s 90’s …gl with that mate.
People underestimate how bad medicine and training regimes were back in the day.
I mean, the pace was super fast in the 80s. There was a lot of cocaine driving that pace, though….
I guess no one told Mikal Bridges.
What about 2000, 2010s?? All this soft mentality is why this man gets hated on. Mofo took the torch from batman and ended up being nightwing.
Cry cry cry! He’s right, was a lot harder back then when it was way more physical, flying commercial airlines, worst treatment, technology was different, not as many trainers as now, pay was less so couldn’t get all the treatment, & etc. oh yea, ppl weren’t on hgh back in the day.
Not to mention the improvement in sneakers, protective gear, pre/post game routines, travel, overall comfort. All I’ve these things have advanced alongside the game to improve rest, rehabilitation, performance, and endurance and yet these injuries are more prevalent than ever.
Yeah true they played defense and allowed physicality back in the 80s and 90s
Fine. Take the season 82 games. Slice off 30 and spread the schedule out making more rest time in between games so no more load management. Happy? Now with that comes smaller paychecks but I’m sure the players will be all-in for that. We all have to make sacrifices.
The blatant traveling, foul baiting, and pace are the main reasons why players are so injured now and have DNP-Rest
this guy is always crying about something
How was he crying?
Less games more expensive tickets. And they already expensive af.
KD said it best the other night. He gets paid 50mil to show up…it’s basketball, find a way to be efficient without jumping above the rim. Players have access to the best sports medicine in the world. Figure it out.
Us normal people don’t want to hear how y’all need to work less while making generational wealthy.
He is so full of shit
Is everyone in here just a bunch of idiots, bots, or both? The game is unrecognizable today in terms of how fast and how much ground these guys cover in a game compared to the 80s and 90s. There is literally tracking data that backs all of this up. As in, if you track the distance players are running each game, over the course of a season, players run an insane amount more and at a faster pace than before.
Yea that’s correct because they had a lot more back to backs in the 90s compared to today. Thats why the “longevity” argument for LeBron is a joke
Also the steroids, is that right LeBiogenesis
Pace was high in the 80s but the game was played inside out so it was way less perimeter/lateral movement needed. I bn tryna explain this to my pops for years lol
Yeah but recovery, sports medicine, nutrition, travel conditions are all infinitely better now. There is less contact because of how soft the whistle is. More guys stand around the 3 point line for most of the game. I don’t buy the game is different enough to justify load management for players that are still in their prime. I get it for guys like LeBron, Steph, KD who are in unprecedented territory when it comes to sustained greatness/longevity.
Yeah, they were a lot more physical back then. It was also rare to see a guy that stayed skinny their entire career like KD. It was always an assumption he would put on muscle and fill out. Now you see more “bigs” staying rail thin and shooting 3s. Lack of importance on actually looking like an athlete these days is the cause of more injuries. They are also playing more AAU games and not learning fundamentals/foot work which also leads to injury.
I’m now imagining Chet bumping bodies with Shaq, DRob and Olajuwon.
It’s 100% the same game. I hate this excuse.
Is it all that different though? Pace is one thing, but the physicality of the game was much greater back then too - for many teams - also, there were some teams, even back then, that played at faster paces, like the Fat Lever Nuggets teams, or the Suns D’Antoni teams - points were lower because of less 3’s and overall less efficient shooting/shot selection, but I’m not sure playing 82 games today is much different than it was in earlier eras.
The 7 seconds or less suns team you mentioned as a fast pace team would trail the 2026 Boston Celtics(the slowest team in the league) in pace. The Celtics have a pace of 97.7 and the suns had a 95.8 pace.
Those fat lever teams you mentioned primarily operated in the late 80s along with the heyday of the showtime Lakers and bird’s Celtics before the paradigm shift caused by the bad boy pistons with them slowing the game down with brutalizing defense. The 80s were fast. The 90s and 00s were not.
The reason that it’s so different nowadays is that posting up on the block or isolating while everybody else stands around is no longer the dominant strategy. Pick and roll is now the dominant strategy. The whizzing screens popularized in part by the 06 suns combined with the three-point revolution made it exponentially more difficult to cover the dangerous of the court in the ways that defenses used to be able to load up.
Because players don’t get those built in “oh, our star is isolating now, I get a break” moments, they break down faster.
The length of the season isn’t the issue. It’s AAU 24⁄7 all the time growing up that causes the injuries.
Stop with this dumb excuse of the game has more running or etc. It’s literally just playing 10,000 more minutes as a kid than before. If you let kids be kids, they’d have less injuries.
This is fine to say but in the interim, we get the higher likelihood to see stars sit on the bench resting. I don’t think it’s great for fans to watch an inferior product because the game is more demanding now.
They either need to make the games less demanding or play less games. Perhaps reigning in the offense a little through officiating and giving defense a bit more impact could help.
Sitting games when not injured is not the solution.
How? Aren’t today’s NBA rules more easygoing toward offensive players than defensive players compared to the 80s–90s?
The problem is that fans pay premium to watch the stars. If they have no intention of playing certain games then just declare ahead.
What LeBron is saying is true but
There is alot more talent now compared to 80s and 90s and teams keep playing there stars 35-40 mins. Reduce it and play the bench
Yeah but in the 80s you’d have got your bitch ass beat to shit by Bill Laimbeer.
That’s true. In the 80s/90s they traveled coach, had none of the multi billion infrastructure that is tailored to the billionaire athlete’s needs in a players league. They didn’t have a private chef on the road and a cryo chamber at home.
While they literally did fight in games and practiced on top of it - not only in the off season.
Dudes on social media: Cry baby has money, chefs bla bla hilarious..
Players have a lot more mileage on their body now.
They play more, play more frequent, and play with more activity and speed.
Starting from when they’re little kids in AAU up to now as pros.
Kids are getting chronic injuries you’d more expect to see in middle aged men.
What the fuck is the dude talking about?
These athletes make millions of dollars a year. They have the best treatments and medicine all at their disposal, all on the organizations dime. Free health insurance. Free training. Free therapy.
In the 80s athletes had to have second jobs cuz they were being paying shit. They didn’t have the medicine or resources or training or knowledge they have today
What a brain dead and out of touch take. This dude just needs to go away.
😂😂😂😂😂😂 You can’t be serious
Yeah it’s probably easier with better travel better health and food knowledge
It was harder in the 80s/90s because of the physical nature of games. You’re soft now. It’s ok
BULLSHIT
Yeah it sure isn’t. Instead of the best players getting \(5m a season they are getting \)50m. You get paid insane amounts to play the game of basketball not to rest on the bench. If players are getting injured then you need to re-evaluate how you play the game…or maybe spend more time in the gym working on core muscle strength rather than sitting on your ass in a podcast disrespecting past eras?
Anyone have statistics on how many trips up and down the floor players make in today’s game vs in the 90s? I’d be really interested to see that
They get injured because they’ve been playing 5 to 7 games every weekend since they were 8 years old. By the time they make it to the NBA, their bodies are just about done.
Totally different game. Soft ass game, by soft ass players, getting soft tissue injuries.
Lebrown versus Rodman, Laimbeer, James Edwards, John Salley and their 24 fouls is what’s different. When was the last time someone fouled Steph hard?
I hate listening to him attempt to sound smart
Go back and watch clips of games from the late 70s and early 80s. They didn’t run. Legit I kid you not players jogged up and down the court.
Eliminate corner 3s and defensive 3 seconds, that’ll slow the game down.
Eliminating defensive 3 second will make it even more a 3 point shooting contest