When It Was A Game: An "Elderly" Perspective

From juicy discussions at the water cooler at work, to interesting fodder via social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc) about basketball, it's pretty safe to say...and very apparent to those involved in said conversations... I'm an "old man" by today's standards...


A relic...


My idea of what basketball is about was etched into my being during the 80's. The Golden Era of the NBA.


Maybe I was spoiled...


I came up during a time where STARS MADE THEMSELVES. They weren't drawn up in a boardroom. Earvin "Magic" Johnson cemented his legacy by leading his LA Laker team to a title by playing CENTER (Jabbar was out due to injury), putting up 42 pts, 15 rbs & 8 asts....AS A ROOKIE.

My "teeth were cut" while watching Isiah Thomas score 25 pts IN ONE QUARTER....ON ONE LEG (a SEVERE ankle injury that would have sidelined TODAY'S player for a MONTH)....IN THE FINALS. **STILL remains a Finals record**

I watched, as an 11 yr old, while Michael Jordan gave, in my opinion, THE ABSOLUTE GREATEST PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE EVER during a 1987 playoff game against the mighty Celtics. He single-handedly smashed them with a 63 pt putout...AT THE BOSTON GARDEN.

IN THAT SAME BUILDING....ONE YEAR LATER... I watched "The Human Highlight Film" Dominique Wilkins & Larry Bird joust in the GREATEST DUEL IN PLAYOFF HISTORY. Wilkins lit up the Celtics for 47...but wasn't enough to beat out Bird's 20 in the 4th qtr (34 overall). Boston edged Atlanta 118-116.


You can't manufacture that...

You can't script that...


Those players EARNED their stripes. During the PLAYOFFS. ALL of these battles were PLAYOFF BATTLES.


THIS is the game I know. Full of epic battles between teams that STAYED TOGETHER. There wasn't any free agency available. You stuck with your team. You got BETTER. You came back to avenge the previous year's defeat.

I watched the Bad Boys of Detroit (happily, I might add) mentally & physically IMPOSE THEIR WILL over the Chicago Bulls, year after year. A time filled with epic fights, hard fouls & the legendary "Jordan Rules". The Pistons won back-to-back titles during this time.

That didn't stop him. It ONLY fueled his desire (and his team's desire) to get over that proverbial hump, which they finally did in 1991, sweeping the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals...and beginning his own era of dominance.

These examples of GREATNESS weren't the result of careful planning in some shoe makers boardroom, or some executive pow-wow on the links. Greatness has it's own unscripted theater. It isn't manipulated by obvious rule changes to "increase scoring & fan appreciation", as David Stern (NBA commish) subtlely initiated.

Stars became stars ON THE COURT. Your greatness was DEFINED in the POSTSEASON.


When I have these conversations with those that didn't see the things I saw?? It hits me after a while. The game that they "know" isn't the one that I was blessed to see. Their "game" is but a mere shadow of the GREATNESS that it once was.

Sad...


They'll NEVER know the league as it was. They will ONLY know what it has become.


A place where you draft a TOP 5 player...and HOPE that his "potential" will be realized 4 or 5 yrs from draft night. A place where team ball is frowned upon, but crossover dribbles are CELEBRATED...even if you don't finish the play. Athletic gifts overshadow mid-range jump shots & bounce passes. Journeymen players earn MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Coaches have NO power over players with portfolios, annually taking the fall for fundamentally lacking players. A league that has MAYBE 5 TRUE CENTERS. Inept free throw shooting from STAR PLAYERS. A CLEAR ABSENCE OF TRUE DEFENSE LEAGUE-WIDE.


A diminishing beauty of a game...


But hey...what do I know?? I'm just some "old guy"...


And that's just fine with me....