NBA 2019-20 thread.

This fills an old with great joy. Let your kids see Dr. J. or Earl Monroe next.

 

Was watching the some old NBA finals — unreal how good Kareem was well into his late 30s.

 

There is an excellent case to be made that Kareem is the most underrated great player of them all. All-time leading scorer. Six titles (same as Jordan), six MVPs, won '85 Finals MVP at age 37. Yet it's always "Michael vs. LeBron." Maybe they're playing for second.

 

Kind of crazy that no one else tried the sky hook as a basic post move. Obviously, Kareem was tall and had great balance, but you figure at least some college kid or middling pro would have tried it.

 

I've continually tried to educate younger people about how amazing Kareem was. He was not a one trick pony (Shaq played awful D, you ever see him swipe down for a steal? WHY? You're 7' 340, block a shot), Kareem was intimidating in the paint. He could hit the wing J, very good from the FT line, smooth hands. Kareem's persona was just jazzy (which I think he liked) when the media and fans wanted Elvis.

IMHO Kareem was the most dominant player ever and his Bucks or Lakers teams would have been right there with the Bulls. There is no way, except recency bias, for LeBron to even be in the conversation.

 

I will say this about LSU/Magic Shaq — I don’t think there was ever a better combination of raw power, athleticism and great footwork. He probably was the fastest center in the league when he joined and was always the strongest. He just never had the killer edge to work on the weak parts of his game or to stay in top shape.

 

The weird thing is, the little kid in "Airplane" who tells Kareem/Roger what his dad thinks was spouting the conventional wisdom of the '70s.

 

I agree and think too many people saw his power dunks and never give him credit for his footwork and his jump hooks and finesse around the rim. He was such a beast. Envisioning him in today's game when people try to go small? He's the perfect counter, give it to him and watch him just kill Draymond or whatever "small ball" 5 is in there. All the help is on the perimeter and its one on one with Shaq, forget it.

 

You watch some of those series during his Lakers run and he was getting hammered every play and dealing with overmatched centers flopping (Vlade). Yet he still got great position.

 

Maybe the tide turns again with all those skinny dudes in the middle, one of those potential nose tackles decides to be Shaq instead and just annihilates dudes inside and that starts a run to the inside again.

 

Mikan. Russell. Wilt. Thurmond. Willis Reed. Kareem. Walton. Moses. Shaq. Duncan. And now? It's more than a position changing, it's like a whole subset of human athletics has disappeared. I mean in the '60s, fans sneered at Walt Bellamy. He would kick so much ass today.