Eclipsing The Past

April 20, 2011 in by Conrad Kaczmarek with 21 Comments

It’s amazing how quickly we forget. The notion of “what have you done for me lately?” runs rampant in our society and appears particularly prevalent in the world of sports. It’s no surprise that everybody gets excited about the newest stars or amazing performances, however, our obsession with novelty seems to be getting a little out of hand.

It seems like everybody is ready to proclaim Derrick Rose the new face of the NBA, but wasn’t it mere months ago that we had given that title to Kevin Durant? When I hear people talk about Derrick Rose as the best point guard or even the best player in the league I cannot help but wonder if Chris Paul and LeBron James were simultaneously involved in a horrific accident. I admit that Rose has done some incredible things and is one of the more electrifying players we have had in years, but to find a guard as scintillating as Rose, you don’t have to go all that far back. Sure, Rose has been impressive, but it was merely 6 years ago that a guy by the name of Allen Iverson was racking up 30 points and 8 assists on a nightly basis. Let’s pump the brakes just a little bit. Appreciate every jaw-dropping play that Rose makes in the playoffs this year, but try not to be so quick to forget that before Rose there were guys like Iverson who did it even better.

On top of overhyping the newest achievements, we also get bored rather quickly. Averaging 25 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds has only been done 15 times in NBA history and many of those seasons belong to LeBron James. Not many people have been properly impressed by James this year or think he is deserving of the MVP award, but if you check the stats he was just his normal, ridiculous self. Why aren’t we appropriately amazed by his unbelievable season? Because it’s nothing new. We’ve seen it all before. Leave it to LeBron to make a historic season seem monotonous. Just as voters got tired of giving Michael Jordan the MVP, we’ve become spoiled by James’ play. If any other player in the league piled up the stats that James did this year, we wouldn’t hesitate to crown him MVP and worship the ground he walked on. But since LeBron has done it four other times in his career? Nothing to see here, move along.

I suppose this phenomenon is partially due to the influx of younger NBA fans. Many of us didn’t have the privilege to see Larry Bird or Magic Johnson in their primes. Hell, I’m only 18 and hardly remember seeing Shaq at his best. I guess I’m unique and can’t expect all young fans to be as obsessed as me, but I hate to see retired players have their lore be underestimated. A recent poll on ESPN.com asked a question about the best defensive centers of all time. I was shocked to see that Dwight Howard was running away with the vote. There is no questioning Dwight’s dominance in the current era, but to say he is better than Hakeem or Russell is just ignorant. I love the modern NBA, but legends of the past still deserve our respect when we compare them to the stars of today.

What really got me thinking about all of this happened last night. I noticed everybody on Twitter going insane about Carmelo Anthony’s performance against the Celtics. TNT’s Charles Barkley went as far as to say that it was one of the best playoff performances he had ever seen. Apparently Charles never saw himself play. Or Michael Jordan. Or Kobe Bryant. Or LeBron James. Don’t get me wrong, 42 points and 17 rebounds against this Boston defense is remarkable, but as ESPN’s Adam Reisinger pointed out, it wasn’t even the best performance this year. Chris Paul’s game-one demolition of the Lakers earns a higher game-score from Basketball-Reference.com and considering the fact that Paul’s team actually won the game, I think most people would agree. I was just as impressed by the Carmelo Anthony Show, but there’s no need to blow it out of proportion just because it happened 5 minutes ago.

I admit it’s hard not to get caught up in what’s happening here and now. Regardless, people ought to relax. Kobe will never be as good as Jordan and Rose isn’t as good as Paul, yet. The NBA playoffs are awesome and let’s enjoy the present, but try not to let it overshadow the past.

About Conrad Kaczmarek: Conrad Kaczmarek is the editor-in-chief of FearTheSword.com, SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers blog. He is a sophomore at Boston College and covers BC Basketball at BCInterruption.com

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Slimchichicken

Thanks, Conrad, for pointing out that we all need to have a little perspective. I know this is going to sound like "back in the day" nonsense, but I watched both Bird and Magic in their primes and of today's players only Bryant and James can be mentioned in their company. They simply played the game at a different level. Magic completely redefined the point guard position and Bird was quite possibly the most skilled offensive player ever. The stat sheet doesn't even begin to do justice to how great they were. If you didn't witness it in person it is difficult to understand how incredible the Lakers, Celtics, Sixers and Pistons were during that time. Or how good various different 2nd tier teams like the Bucs, Hawks, Spurs, Jazz, Blazers and Mavs were. The game simply changed with expansion. The Bulls were an amazing basketball team in the 90s and deserve all the high praise, but they never faced an opponent even remotely comparable to the very best teams in the 80s.

There's always going to be a recency bias when it comes to ranking great players in a best this or best that list (whether it's year by year or all-time). Howard is a very good defensive center, but it's extremely difficult to judge just how good he is because there are so few good centers in the NBA today. Howard's greatest strength is his off-ball, paint-controlling defense. He'd have a much harder time if he had to pay attention to the great post players that used to be in the league. Even Shaq's dominance in the early 2000s is tempered by the fact that he was playing against guys like Greg Ostertag. When he had to go head-to-head as a pup with Olajuwon he got torched. That isn't to say that they aren't both great, just that neither Howard or Shaq had to contend with the great big men that a guy like Kareem had to. I mean, at various points in his career Kareem went head to head with Wilt Chamberlain, Elvin Hayes, Bill Walton, Bob Lanier, Willis Reed, Moses Malone, Robert Parrish, Artis Gilmore, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Patrick Ewing. Hell, Mark Eaton and Darryl Dawkins were better than all but maybe 2 or 3 centers today. And people seem to forget that Kareem was All-Defense 11 times. I think Howard is a great player and dominant defender, but he's going to have to do a lot more to earn a spot alongside Kareem, Wilt, and Russell or even crack the 2nd tier great centers like Hakeem, Moses, Shaq and Duncan. And even if we're talking solely defense, Wilt, Russell, and Olajuwon are still way ahead.

Eclipsing The Past

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