[jd@os]

Quote: Originally Posted by ggsimmonds

....But what those two above points contribute to is the special nostalgia we see in the NBA compared to other professional sports. You don't see such passionate debate in the NFL or MLB. And since we will never know the actual outcome of any of these hypothetical discussions, people from both sides can get away with "you don't know basketball" whenever someone disagrees. I think its simple, in a series played in the 90s rules that favored size/strength the Bulls win because they had more size and strength. If the series used today's rules that prioritize skill the Warriors win because they had more skill....

I believe Michael Jordan is partly to "blame". When you have someone challenging for GOAT status saying he's chasing that ghost in Chicago...well that ghost retired years ago. Even though baseball is, imo, kind of stuck in the past as a sport, basketball, imo, is kind of stuck in the past on its players. When we discuss top players in the NBA, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Jabbar, Russell, Chamberlain, etc come up--but when we put Lebron in that mix, we're again reminded that a lot of those players are from way back when (and NO, I'm not saying that's my list--that's what I often hear).

Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes--recent. Nadal, Djokovic, Federer--recent. Trout and Ohtani--current. But yes, basketball ghosts keep entering the discussion and seem to keep basketball linked to the past (and no, I'm not saying it's the only sport that does it--just saying it tends to happen).