Alright you're just going to ignore 85% of every post I make so it's cool. Like I said, let's not act like Terry Porter didn't give Stockton the business. Guy averaged 17 ppg in the regular season then gave Stockton 30 ppg in the playoffs and we're acting like he was Patrick Beverly while completely ignoring Stockton was sometimes matched up against bums like Robert Pack instead of Chris Paul and Damian Lillard every year. People still remember Stockton getting torched by Terry Porter because the other series he was guarding Vinny Del ***** and Robert Pack. When he went against KJ he got torched by him too.
I know what skill on the basketball court is. I know what athleticism on the basketball court is. But if you think Stockton is a better athlete than Curry and Kyrie then we are so far apart. I think Stockton is right there with those guys as far as skill but he was more functional and economic.
Damian Lillard isn't a top 5 athlete at the point guard position and would be an elite 90s point guard in terms of athleticism.
This... Imagine Westbrook or D-rose with is speed going up against Stockton.. He wouldn't be stopped. The athletes today are far superior to what you had in the 80's and 90s.
I challenge anyone to watch this full game. Jordan 63 vas Celtics at the Garden
That 86 team was on oof the best teams of all time. Look at the speed of Jordan compared to everyone else. Now Imagine Lebron, KD, Leonard, Curry, Westbrook, healthy Derrick Rose, Prime Kobe, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis, Prime TMac, Lilliard, going up against those WINGS... they would MURDER them. Bird and Michale can't cover none of these guys... they are just superior athletes. Isiah Thomas himself said so that athletically the league is a different animal. Sort of What the 50s and 60s were compared to the 80s and 90s. We tend to romanticize the past and I suspect many will see Kobe/Lebron the same 30 years from now. But To put things into perspective. Lebron 's weight is more than any dream team player and not a single Center or Poward Forward in that Era has Lebron's speed, dribbling or passing ability. You are talking about Karl Malone with that speed... vs players that played below the rim, less athletic.
And for everyone who says that the modern players would not performers well because of the rule changes, that's baloney. Chris Mullin averaged 25 points per game for like 4 seasons in the 90s... Steve Smith averaged over 20 ppt for 3 seasons in the 90s, Tim Hardaway at least 4 seasons averaging 20 points per game...
You want to know what modern NBA players are capable of? Let's look at a 19 year old Kobe dropping 33 with Jordan and Pippen guarding him and he's doing this OFF THE BENCH... Remember a this stage MJ led the league in scoring and Bulls were still the best team in the world. But the class of athlete that Kobe became ( 05-09 Prime Kobe) Jordan never in his life saw a wing like that.
The game has evolved... the athletes today are a different breed athletically.
