LeBron James never actually used the word contraction.
But that is how it came off when he talked about three big name players in Miami being good for the sport, how a game against the Lakers was a reminder of better times.“How can it be bad for basketball when you have guys who want to win playing on the same team?” he said. “Hopefully, the league can figure out one way where it can go back to the ‘80s where you had three or four All-Stars, three or four superstars, three or four Hall of Famers on the same team. The league was great. It wasn’t as watered down as it is…
“We had more (star) players on the team, which made almost every game anticipated, not just the Christmas Day game or the Halloween game, things like that,” James said.
“It’s not my job; I’m a player, but that is why the league was so great,” James said. “Imagine if you could take Kevin Love off Minnesota and add him to another team and you shrink the (league). Looking at some of the teams that aren’t that great, you take Brook Lopez or you take Devin Harris off these teams that aren’t that good right now and you add him to a team that could be really good.
“I’m not saying let’s take New Jersey and let’s take Minnesota out of the league. But hey, you guys are not stupid, I’m not stupid, it would be great for the league.”
Billy Hunter would like to thank you for telling David Stern there needs to be fewer NBA jobs as he heads into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiation.
Back in say 1985, there were seven fewer teams in the league than there are now. But there were still bad teams and James would have to look no farther than his local Cleveland Cavaliers to see it (well, he was 1 at the time so he may not remember a lot). That squad was led by World B. Free (coached by George Karl) and after that it was guys that Cavs fans have a fondness for but didn’t really light the league on fire. There was Roy Hinson and Melvin Turpin and John Bagley and even guys like Mark West. That was not the Celtics or Lakers.
Back in the 80s the game was exciting in part because the pace was faster — Seattle played at the slowest pace in 1985 of 97.4 possessions per game, this season that would be the second fastest team in the league. Faster than the Knicks or the Warriors. And make no mistake, the talent on those teams was pretty concentrated in the 1980s — look at the Lakers and Celtics rosters compared to the rest of the league.
The NBA’s talent pool is much deeper now than it was in 1985 — the influx of international players alone brings in a lot more quality players. The popularity of the sport that was sparked by Magic and Bird and taken to another level by Jordan changed how many American youth play the game, which means more good American players to choose from.
We could go through any NBA era and say “what if we pulled World B. Free off those Cavs teams and put him on the Bucks with Terry Cummings and Sidney Moncrief, wouldn’t that be great?” But I’m not convinced that is what would make the league better.
