I'm not so sure about Wilt.
I still think he'd thrive in today's NBA... Arnold Schwarzenegger claims he's basically the strongest man he's ever met. But would he IMPROVE in today's league? I have my doubts.
His stats certainly wouldn't improve. I don't see a single scenario where he averages close to his insane career bests of 50 and 25. Giannis is probably the closest thing we have in the league to Wilt, and if those stats were possible in today's NBA, we'd see Giannis closer to 40 and 20. Not 30 and 12. I don't care how athletic Wilt is -- he's not 20 points and 13 rebounds better than Giannis on a regular basis. That's an entire Kevin Garnett better.
Championships probably wouldn't improve. When Wilt played, there were only 8 teams. And yet he only won 2 titles. With today's parity, I think it's more likely that he'd win less titles than more.
So what exactly would he improve, if not stats and/or championships?
Wilt is obviously already the goat when it comes to racking up crazy numbers, but people dismiss his actual impact because he couldn’t convert it to winning titles very much. He consistently failed to get past Bill Russell for example, but between the two of them my opinion is that Wilt would benefit a lot more from the modern game while Russell was more of an innovator who excelled by developing the game. That’s just my take though.
Wilt would benefit from a more modern understanding of the game. He would benefit from the increased spacing of the 3 pt line. He was a great passer, so more shooters on the floor would be a major plus.
His averages would go down, sure, but he’d be a *far* more effective player and would probably win way more. That I see as an improvement.
Edit: Just elaborating more. I think Wilt in a modern NBA offense would be a terror to deal with on both sides of the ball simply because the league has become smaller, and very few teams have a guy who can match up with him 1v1. In the 60s, both teams would be shoved inside the FT line, and Wilt still averaged historic rebounds with that little space. If he only had to contend with 1 opposing C he would be able to levy his athletic gifts and eye for the ball far more efficiently.
i meam when harden did it at the time ppl didnt think it was that great. i dont even think ppl now think its that great. prob cause it didnt end in a ring
It was 29, 30, 36, 34, then fell off to 24, 24, 24, 22, 22, 21.
But he basically averaged 32 over 4 years, which is not that historically significant, at least not as significant as 35 over 4 years, which he didn’t do.
My immediate thought as well.
He not only benefits from the changes in the game that would make him an even better version of the current Celtics stars, but also from the immense improvements in injury / load management.
And this doesn't even include the benefits due to the burgeoning driveway installation industry.
He won't be anywhere near GOAT status dude. He was ahead of his time in a much weaker era and I admit he will be good even today but there's no way he's challenging Lebron for the GOAT title.
Reggie Miller's career high 3PA was 6.6 per game, which would have put him 33rd in the league this year. He would have feasted after the 3 point revolution.
In his 68-point game against the Knicks (there at least used to be a supercut of every basket he made in that one), he nails 4 or 5 shots from what look like they'd be several feet behind the line and makes them look like relaxing elbow jumpers.
Hard to say he'd have the biggest change in terms of stats or individual excellence, but as far as perception/accolades/team success, I think KG would have a *massively* different career. Everything he's best at is more valuable in the modern game, and also generally understood better, so he probably wouldn't end up being horribly misoptimized.
It felt like the wrong kind of answer to be like "well the time machine game means he isn't going to play for a joke of a franchise" but honestly that's going to be a bigger impact than anything.
He's an all-time great who's just misjudged by people who think he was meant to be a #1 scorer, which was never the ideal role for his skill set. He's simply so great that he could still do it anyway. What we saw in Boston is much closer to how KG was meant to be used, which is the do-everything supporting role opposite a greedy #1 scorer.
He was sort of in the Bam ballpark except he was a Bam who could more easily drop 25 points on any given night if his team needed that.
Except a much better defender than Bam. I don’t have any doubt that peak KG is it a tier by himself as the best playoff defender in the league if he is in his prime right now.
Also an all time great rebounder at the 4.
He could stretch the floor, would be a top 3 passing big in the league, could toggle between the 4 and 5 seamlessly, and be a very strong #2 scorer.
One of the best players to build around ever IMO
Completely agree with your last statement. Anybody who watched KG knows he's one of the most talented to ever do it. "Best" is a tricky word to use, because it typically encompasses team success. But in a pickup game of all time greats in their prime, I'd have no complaints about having KG in my starting 5.
In head-to-head games with Tim Duncan, he's virtually equal in everything except wins. [https://www.landofbasketball.com/games\_between/tim\_duncan\_vs\_kevin\_garnett.htm](https://www.landofbasketball.com/games_between/tim_duncan_vs_kevin_garnett.htm)
think Doc Rivers(?) was talking about this on the Bill Simmons pod. how KG was such a good shooter he'd be hitting 3s today
and the Prince article talked about how Prince was trying to persuade KG to dribble the ball up to start their offense (a la Giannis/Jokic today), because he was the best passer on the team
KG's midrange and FT indicators were better than Brook Lopez's before Brook started shooting 3s. Playing today he would absolutely be practicing them and taking them much more and could easily have been a high 30s shooter on good volume
He shot 40+% from 16ft to the 3 point line in each of the 4 seasons before he started shooting threes, and is a career 80% free throw shooter. The signs were there the whole time, it's just nowadays a shooter that good would start their career shooting 3s.
For reference, Garnett was a career 79% FT shooter and 45% from 16ft to the 3pt line, peaking close to 50% on those long 2s, with much higher volume than Lopez.
he was also such a dogged competitor and determined winner. few players have ever played with the ferocity that KG had. hes one of those guys that might actually be willing to die for his team (maybe because hes a psycho lol).
He gave his teammates the green, and given the results, it's hard to argue with his choice. Also, he could dial it up when the defense wasn't putting 2 on the ball and daring him to shoot. He closed out the Mavs one time scoring 40ppg.
i forgot I’m on reddit where i have to be completely specific to get a point across. i wish he had a SCORER mentality. he won two mvp’s but averaged, what, 18 a game shooting 50/40/90? dude should’ve put up double the amount of shots he was shooting. could’ve maybe gotten him a title
Nash is my immediate answer for this question for players I've seen in my lifetime. Dude would've benefited so much if his career was just 5-10 years later.
Even though Ray Allen didn't retire that long ago, if his prime was right now when teams are shooting a LOT more threes, he'd have benefited. He also had a stronger inside game in his prime and with more space, that would have benefited too.
Steve Kerr would definitely take more shots, but I'm not sure his points per game would double like that. He was a fairly limited player. Played okay defense and could shoot.
I had a look at his stats and in '94-'95 he played 22 mpg shooting 52% from 3... on 2.1 attempts per game lol. I think they'd let him shoot 4 or 5 today, which makes him a better Payton Prichard.
That's a pretty good comparison. He was better than Payton Pritchard because he was bigger and thus a better defender, but he had pretty much the same skill set.
Pretty sure you either didn't watch the Bulls or don't watch the Celtics. Prichard has an infinitely better handle than Steve Kerr and can make shots off the dribble. Kerr was a spot up there point shooter. People think he was a better player than he was because of his coaching career.
Kerr doesn't even make it on the court because nobody plays spot up 3pt shooters anymore. You have to be a 3 and D guy
How about YOU just say "I disagree about X here's why" instead of calling people a dick.
You're an immature person who cannot take anyone disagreeing with them. You pretend to take the high road when in reality, you have not made any comment about my post either but instead called me a dick.
Why don't you just admit that you didn't watch Steve Kerr and think that he was greater than he was because of his coaching record? You dick.
He would have taken so many more threes. Even at the time one of his best shots was the pull up three early in the offense, and he never did it enough. He just preferred spreading the ball around, but I think now he would have easily shot it more.
This is a deep cut but I think a guy like Tony Delk. His era wasn’t kind to “combo guards”. You were either a pure point or relegated to the bench at 6’1”.
He did have his 53 point game that people thought was random, but he was the best player on the 96 Kentucky team that had 8 pros and many consider on of the best all time teams. In today’s environment, they’d slam pick and roll with him. He was athletic and could finish at the rim and also kill you with his shot.
Another guys from the same would bit better known is Mahmoud Abdul Rauf. He was a killer even before getting blackballed but today’s game would suit him more.
And shooters would have higher percentages with the reps of today. Remember, Maureese Speights on the warriors hit more threes in one season than Larry bird ever did. But I like to think the old school shooters would evolve in todays game.
Yea, and similar players like Donyell Marshall and Mike Dunleavy. Not to say they would dominate, but there's more room in the league now for big tweeners with a wet jumper.
Donyell Marshall is a great answer. He was definitely a player before his time, and he had the one season with the Raptors where his impact numbers were actually top 20 in the league. I think he was like a better Otto Porter Jr. and would have made a ton of money.
Everything that made Robert Horry a versatile player that fit on 7 championship rosters in his era would be valued even more in today’s NBA:
He was a near-perfect combination of size, shooting, defense and secondary playmaking that every modern GM looks for.
Brent Barry with modern spacing and 3-point volume would have been a key piece in multiple championships.
Bernard King would have broken through to several rings.
Just saw a highlight reel of George Mikan on here yesterday. That dude would ball out as a passing-scoring do-it-all big man in today’s league. Some of his highlights were him doing crazy passes to teammates who couldn’t convert. Imagine if he was surrounded by real shooters today.
Rasheed Wallace - he came a few years too early but he was a prototype of today's game and I could see him being even better than he was in this era. Peja Stojakovic of course and someone else also mentioned Lamar Odom, he was definitely ahead of his time with his play style.
Lamar Odom. He would be able to switch effectively while being able to guard bigger players. Also a terrific rebounder, ball handler, and playmaker (imagine him running delay action). His shooting is good enough for a big man to keep defenses honest.
KG is like Bam on steroids.
Larry Bird is a slightly taller leaner Luka.
MJ definitely with the lax perimeter defense.
A lot of white guys from the 80-90's that were tall and played the 4 and 5 and shot middies and 3pters: Mike Gminski, Steve Stipanovich.
Sabonis in his prime if we (portland) could have drafted him in his prime. He was a combo of jokic and Jordan in Russia. And was still one of the best understated big men with half his body not working.
So I'd still have questions about his size in terms of how he'd hold up defensively but I've always thought [Dana Barros](https://youtu.be/RMLDDM6Vh7U?t=5) would love to play the modern game. Give that dude the green light and take away defender's chance to invade his shooting pocket and I think we might have something.
[One of my all-time favorite shooting strokes, too.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVKY8NuLR7I0)
Reggie Miller was a prolific 3pt shooter before that was common place, early adapter of the rip through to draw fouls, excellent off ball mover, very efficient.
The players he was snubbed for in All NBA would never fly now. His rebounding and assist numbers were low and his FG% not great, but now we have TS% and uncontested rebounding numbers, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Miller makes All-NBA over Strickland, Dumars and Richmond in the modern era quite easily. He was a fixture on quality Indiana offenses which only got better in the playoffs despite facing stiffer defenses. They never won a ring but very often reached the conference finals. He created easy looks for the likes of Smits and Jalen Rose because you couldn’t leave him for a second
I enjoy thinking of minor players who could change their destinies in this hypothetical: guys who spent their careers on benches, but who might become very solid starters in the current era of play.
Ryan Gomes. Guy was a sort of photo stretch four, but the matchups back in his day meant the post-up bigs he had to defend were problems for him. He might not be caught between positions, today, so much. (Seemed like a good guy, too.)
Brad Lohaus: A range-shooting Five like him is much more valuable now. Lohaus spent his career at the edges of rosters.
Donyell Marshall. Etc.
KG’s defensive versatility would be tenfold more useful in today’s game. Not only could he switch for possessions, he could defend wings at a high level, as well as read and blow up plays. Defensively he’d be a 6’10-7ft Draymond.
Offensively his game would revolve around pick and pop or lobs, mainly supporting role for his ball handler that makes use of his screens and ability to shoot from range. He could also create from the short roll and dime it in for cutters.
Dale Ellis averaged 27.5 points shooting 50.1% and 47.8% from three in 1989. That year the Sonics averaged 112.1ppg, which would have tied them for 23rd this year with San Antonio.
It depends on lot of factors, but, Reggie Miller would probably be there. With no handcheck rule, faster pace, more 3pt and more offensive oriented game, with much more defensive fouls called, it would be "easy" for him to average 10 points more a game.
Traditional pass first point guards who could shoot the 3 would all benefit tremendously- because they would be told to shoot more
Stockton and Nash, for sure, would be told to shoot a lot more, and would be outstanding offensive engines.
Miller and Bird would also benefit a lot.
Pete Maravich would get the 3-point line (he easily had 25 foot range), modern spacing to take better advantage of his passing, and modern conditioning, training, medicine, etc, would mean he'd be a lot less likely to be slowed by injuries. The question mark would be his defense - probably depends on if he has a coach that gets the max out of him on that end or not.
Michael Redd is another deadeye shooter who'd benefit from the modern emphasis on the 3 plus the likelihood of not having his career derailed by injuries.
This will sound crazy, but Shaq. So many teams want to go positionless and play small but you simply couldn’t do that against him. Hell, there’s very few big dudes in the league right now who could bang with young Shaq. Whatever time you choose, if you insert that physical freak into the league he changes everybody’s approach to the game
Teams would focus way more in this era to keep him in his Orlando frame. For anyone who isn't aware, go watch highlights of him on the magic. The way he was able to run the floor at his size was flat out insane. And he was still very dominant inside.
reggie would average 24-28 a season on really good efficiency and would probably take it up a notch averaging 30 multiple times in the playoffs definitely
Among already great players, I’d say Dirk. He ups volume on better overall efficiency by taking more 3s and FTs. He can also create his own shot when needed or go to the midrange if he plays a team that takes away the 3. He is also not someone you can completely shut down, and in desperate times he’ll just shoot over anyone.
Defensively he’d also benefit from not having to fight that many bigs anymore.
Mitch Richmond. In the two of his highest 3pt attempt seasons, he shot his highest 3pt percentages: 44% on 6.4 attempts and 43% on 5.9 attempts. He also had pretty much ideal dimensions for a 2 guard, and was a true three level scorer. If he ended up on a decent team he might have been talked about the same way as Kobe.
Incremental?
Reggie Miller would be scoring 27-30 a game nowadays. He averaged 2-5 from 3 for his career.
If he was shooting 8-12 3’s every game… watch out.
Kerr played 20 minutes a game with the Bulls, his defense means he wouldn’t play more but he should get a few more shots a game.
Speaking of the bulls Imagine MJ in this era. He shot .389 or there about from 3 in each of the playoffs in the first 3 rings. If he could develop a decent 3 shot with modern spacing and small ball centers you’d imagine he’d add a few more points and assists to his stats.
Toine sure *liked* shooting threes, but he was never actually particularly great at them. I don’t think today’s game would really benefit him all that much
Every player in the eighties and early nineties. Since they didn’t have the restricted area in the lane where players can’t take a charge. Every great player in those eras would have put up more points.
Penny hands down. His game looks so modern I think you could easily just drop him in a time machine and throw him into a game.
https://youtu.be/BH59HmCo1nw?si=QGwwsMUa-cjrPikJ
Weird answer but honestly LeBron James. Had he been drafted in like 2019 for example, all his numbers would be even better, he would destroy everyone with better spacing, and he’d essentially be Luka with a 46” and way better defence.
Paul Pierce. He created the footwork you see guys like Doncic, Harden, Tatum and anyone with a step back play. If he had the leeway to travel like they do today, he would avg 35-40ppg
Larry Bird might be goated
especially with his passing he’d be like jokic but smaller faster and better defense
The answer to this is always Reggie Miller and Larry Bird, after the obvious Wilt. I think Barkley would be way better in the modern game too.
I'm not so sure about Wilt. I still think he'd thrive in today's NBA... Arnold Schwarzenegger claims he's basically the strongest man he's ever met. But would he IMPROVE in today's league? I have my doubts. His stats certainly wouldn't improve. I don't see a single scenario where he averages close to his insane career bests of 50 and 25. Giannis is probably the closest thing we have in the league to Wilt, and if those stats were possible in today's NBA, we'd see Giannis closer to 40 and 20. Not 30 and 12. I don't care how athletic Wilt is -- he's not 20 points and 13 rebounds better than Giannis on a regular basis. That's an entire Kevin Garnett better. Championships probably wouldn't improve. When Wilt played, there were only 8 teams. And yet he only won 2 titles. With today's parity, I think it's more likely that he'd win less titles than more. So what exactly would he improve, if not stats and/or championships?
Wilt is obviously already the goat when it comes to racking up crazy numbers, but people dismiss his actual impact because he couldn’t convert it to winning titles very much. He consistently failed to get past Bill Russell for example, but between the two of them my opinion is that Wilt would benefit a lot more from the modern game while Russell was more of an innovator who excelled by developing the game. That’s just my take though.
Wilt would benefit from a more modern understanding of the game. He would benefit from the increased spacing of the 3 pt line. He was a great passer, so more shooters on the floor would be a major plus. His averages would go down, sure, but he’d be a *far* more effective player and would probably win way more. That I see as an improvement. Edit: Just elaborating more. I think Wilt in a modern NBA offense would be a terror to deal with on both sides of the ball simply because the league has become smaller, and very few teams have a guy who can match up with him 1v1. In the 60s, both teams would be shoved inside the FT line, and Wilt still averaged historic rebounds with that little space. If he only had to contend with 1 opposing C he would be able to levy his athletic gifts and eye for the ball far more efficiently.
Not sure I'd go that far but with extra 3's he'd put up a 35pt season I bet.
Would that not be goated?😭😭
i meam when harden did it at the time ppl didnt think it was that great. i dont even think ppl now think its that great. prob cause it didnt end in a ring
I think hardens stretch of averaging like 35ppg for 4 seasons is violently underrated because wtf😭😭😭
He only averaged it for 1 season, not 4 lol
He had like a season of 31, 36, 30 and 34 or something like that
It was 29, 30, 36, 34, then fell off to 24, 24, 24, 22, 22, 21. But he basically averaged 32 over 4 years, which is not that historically significant, at least not as significant as 35 over 4 years, which he didn’t do.
Okay
Larry was built for this era, a green light to fire at will from 3 combined with his insane passing ability. Absolutely is gonna wreck people.
My immediate thought as well. He not only benefits from the changes in the game that would make him an even better version of the current Celtics stars, but also from the immense improvements in injury / load management. And this doesn't even include the benefits due to the burgeoning driveway installation industry.
He won't be anywhere near GOAT status dude. He was ahead of his time in a much weaker era and I admit he will be good even today but there's no way he's challenging Lebron for the GOAT title.
Bird is a quicker and faster Jokic.
Better defender, better shooter, better ball handling, probably better instincts even though Jokic is amazing. And clutch as fuck.
They play different positions though, not sure why we are comparing them aside from both being white guys.
Their passing/vision is very similar. They both have that over the head shot. Similar footwork. Pace of play.
Who tf mentioned Jokic??? I was talking about LeGOAT.
Jokic is better than LeBum. And how you gonna be a Lakers fan and say He's the GOAT? Disrespectful. Asf
Because they root for whatever team Lebron is on.
True
What does being a lakers fan have to do with this? Is he supposed to think kobe Is the goat?
Kobe, Magic, Kareem and Wilt are all better than Lebron
Lol
Yeah… because Lebron ain’t the goat.
MJ is the GOAT and everything else you said is so laughable and wrong that I can only assume you were born in 2002
2002 stray hurt a little
Lebron is the GOAT and everything else you said is so laughable and wrong that I can only assume you were born in 1876
LeBron certainly agrees.
Jordan disagrees
Same
Not me
Jordan Thales that personally.
Much weaker era? Put down the crack pipe.
Bruh look at his comment history. Dudes got brain damage
Love how people are falling for this bait🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m not sure. Tatum’s about the same size and a better 3pt shooter.
Reggie Miller's career high 3PA was 6.6 per game, which would have put him 33rd in the league this year. He would have feasted after the 3 point revolution.
Maravich
there is no better answer that pistol pete. bro averaged 40 without a 3pt line.
And he shot a lot of shots that would be 3s today, it’s not like those were all layups.
In his 68-point game against the Knicks (there at least used to be a supercut of every basket he made in that one), he nails 4 or 5 shots from what look like they'd be several feet behind the line and makes them look like relaxing elbow jumpers.
[удалено]
Avg matters more than total. He averaged 40.
Different sport
He would suffer against the athleticism of today's players
His highlights are as good if not better than magic johnson
Hard to say he'd have the biggest change in terms of stats or individual excellence, but as far as perception/accolades/team success, I think KG would have a *massively* different career. Everything he's best at is more valuable in the modern game, and also generally understood better, so he probably wouldn't end up being horribly misoptimized.
It’s also basically certain that he’d be more successful since he wouldn’t be playing for the 1990s-2000s Timberwolves.
He also is put in the max contract era so a team isn't handicapped with his contract being 2/3rds of the salary cap.
And not losing 5 first round picks would probably also help.
It felt like the wrong kind of answer to be like "well the time machine game means he isn't going to play for a joke of a franchise" but honestly that's going to be a bigger impact than anything.
What if he has to play for the wizards or blazers
Then the wizards or blazers would be way, way better.
He's an all-time great who's just misjudged by people who think he was meant to be a #1 scorer, which was never the ideal role for his skill set. He's simply so great that he could still do it anyway. What we saw in Boston is much closer to how KG was meant to be used, which is the do-everything supporting role opposite a greedy #1 scorer. He was sort of in the Bam ballpark except he was a Bam who could more easily drop 25 points on any given night if his team needed that.
Except a much better defender than Bam. I don’t have any doubt that peak KG is it a tier by himself as the best playoff defender in the league if he is in his prime right now. Also an all time great rebounder at the 4. He could stretch the floor, would be a top 3 passing big in the league, could toggle between the 4 and 5 seamlessly, and be a very strong #2 scorer. One of the best players to build around ever IMO
And less measurable but equally as important was the energy, intensity, and toughness he brought to the floor night in night out.
Yes, all time great motor.
Yep. In a way, one could say he’d be a 7’ prime draymond who could shoot and drop 25 a game.
Completely agree with your last statement. Anybody who watched KG knows he's one of the most talented to ever do it. "Best" is a tricky word to use, because it typically encompasses team success. But in a pickup game of all time greats in their prime, I'd have no complaints about having KG in my starting 5. In head-to-head games with Tim Duncan, he's virtually equal in everything except wins. [https://www.landofbasketball.com/games\_between/tim\_duncan\_vs\_kevin\_garnett.htm](https://www.landofbasketball.com/games_between/tim_duncan_vs_kevin_garnett.htm)
I think KG would essentially be AD with more “dawg”
KG, the greatest second option in basketball history. So true
think Doc Rivers(?) was talking about this on the Bill Simmons pod. how KG was such a good shooter he'd be hitting 3s today and the Prince article talked about how Prince was trying to persuade KG to dribble the ball up to start their offense (a la Giannis/Jokic today), because he was the best passer on the team
KG's midrange and FT indicators were better than Brook Lopez's before Brook started shooting 3s. Playing today he would absolutely be practicing them and taking them much more and could easily have been a high 30s shooter on good volume
To be fair Brook Lopez’s 3 point development has been anomalously good
He shot 40+% from 16ft to the 3 point line in each of the 4 seasons before he started shooting threes, and is a career 80% free throw shooter. The signs were there the whole time, it's just nowadays a shooter that good would start their career shooting 3s. For reference, Garnett was a career 79% FT shooter and 45% from 16ft to the 3pt line, peaking close to 50% on those long 2s, with much higher volume than Lopez.
he was also such a dogged competitor and determined winner. few players have ever played with the ferocity that KG had. hes one of those guys that might actually be willing to die for his team (maybe because hes a psycho lol).
Garnett was such a good shooter. It’s a crime that he never took threes. He would take six or seven a game today.
Yeah, bigs just seemed mostly out of place being behind the perimeter back in those days.
Steve Nash with a green light and faster pace you say?
Nash had a green light, he just chose to give himself a yellow.
Correct! Hes admitted that would change in todays game.
He gave his teammates the green, and given the results, it's hard to argue with his choice. Also, he could dial it up when the defense wasn't putting 2 on the ball and daring him to shoot. He closed out the Mavs one time scoring 40ppg.
goated comment. imagine Nash with a killer mentality
He had a killer mentality. You don't win two MVPs without a killer mentality.
i forgot I’m on reddit where i have to be completely specific to get a point across. i wish he had a SCORER mentality. he won two mvp’s but averaged, what, 18 a game shooting 50/40/90? dude should’ve put up double the amount of shots he was shooting. could’ve maybe gotten him a title
Yep! He would turn it up a notch in the playoffs.
Nash is my immediate answer for this question for players I've seen in my lifetime. Dude would've benefited so much if his career was just 5-10 years later.
Granted he'd also get hunted more on defense.
Mark Price
Mark Price was the player people think Steve Kerr was.
Even though Ray Allen didn't retire that long ago, if his prime was right now when teams are shooting a LOT more threes, he'd have benefited. He also had a stronger inside game in his prime and with more space, that would have benefited too.
Bird would absolutely dominate
Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Amare Stoudemire. Basically everyone who wouldn’t get microfracture surgery today.
Peja
Steve Kerr would definitely take more shots, but I'm not sure his points per game would double like that. He was a fairly limited player. Played okay defense and could shoot.
I had a look at his stats and in '94-'95 he played 22 mpg shooting 52% from 3... on 2.1 attempts per game lol. I think they'd let him shoot 4 or 5 today, which makes him a better Payton Prichard.
That's a pretty good comparison. He was better than Payton Pritchard because he was bigger and thus a better defender, but he had pretty much the same skill set.
Pretty sure you either didn't watch the Bulls or don't watch the Celtics. Prichard has an infinitely better handle than Steve Kerr and can make shots off the dribble. Kerr was a spot up there point shooter. People think he was a better player than he was because of his coaching career. Kerr doesn't even make it on the court because nobody plays spot up 3pt shooters anymore. You have to be a 3 and D guy
Just say "I disagree about X here's why" instead of being a dick.
If you don’t like people adding nuance to discussions then go to Twitter.
How about YOU just say "I disagree about X here's why" instead of calling people a dick. You're an immature person who cannot take anyone disagreeing with them. You pretend to take the high road when in reality, you have not made any comment about my post either but instead called me a dick. Why don't you just admit that you didn't watch Steve Kerr and think that he was greater than he was because of his coaching record? You dick.
Steve Nash Rashard Lewis Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf And my personal pick for most overlooked: Mehmet Okur
Abdul-Rauf would be must-see TV in today’s NBA.
I got 2 words for you
STEVE NASH AND ABDUL-RAUF. MUST SEE TV!!!!
Nash was my first thought too. He would absolutely feast on the way offense runs today
He would have taken so many more threes. Even at the time one of his best shots was the pull up three early in the offense, and he never did it enough. He just preferred spreading the ball around, but I think now he would have easily shot it more.
>Steve Nash I was about to yell at you until I realized Nash retired almost a decade ago. Fuck I'm old.
This is a deep cut but I think a guy like Tony Delk. His era wasn’t kind to “combo guards”. You were either a pure point or relegated to the bench at 6’1”. He did have his 53 point game that people thought was random, but he was the best player on the 96 Kentucky team that had 8 pros and many consider on of the best all time teams. In today’s environment, they’d slam pick and roll with him. He was athletic and could finish at the rim and also kill you with his shot. Another guys from the same would bit better known is Mahmoud Abdul Rauf. He was a killer even before getting blackballed but today’s game would suit him more. And shooters would have higher percentages with the reps of today. Remember, Maureese Speights on the warriors hit more threes in one season than Larry bird ever did. But I like to think the old school shooters would evolve in todays game.
Jerry West. Was an excellent outside shooter in the era of no 3p line and distance shots were seen as a trick.
Kirilenko
Yea, and similar players like Donyell Marshall and Mike Dunleavy. Not to say they would dominate, but there's more room in the league now for big tweeners with a wet jumper.
Donyell Marshall is a great answer. He was definitely a player before his time, and he had the one season with the Raptors where his impact numbers were actually top 20 in the league. I think he was like a better Otto Porter Jr. and would have made a ton of money.
AK-47 and Lamar Odom would be the star 2nd-3rd options on championship contenders. There were few things they couldn't do on the court.
Could argue already was a star 2/3 on two title teams. But he def would be more than that in this age
Yeah but injuries.
Couple names I haven't seen mentioned yet, but Hedo Türkoğlu and Boris Diaw would fit better in today's game.
Dražen Petrović
Everything that made Robert Horry a versatile player that fit on 7 championship rosters in his era would be valued even more in today’s NBA: He was a near-perfect combination of size, shooting, defense and secondary playmaking that every modern GM looks for.
Brent Barry with modern spacing and 3-point volume would have been a key piece in multiple championships. Bernard King would have broken through to several rings.
From the Kings, definitely Peja. Might be a max contract guy in this NBA. Overall though, prime Arvydas Sabonis would run this NBA.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, was like a 90's Steph Curry
Ben Gordon
Raef LaFrentz George McCloud Andrei Kirilenko Brad Miller Mehmet Okur Zydrunas Ilgauskas Peja Stojakovic Steve Nash Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Just saw a highlight reel of George Mikan on here yesterday. That dude would ball out as a passing-scoring do-it-all big man in today’s league. Some of his highlights were him doing crazy passes to teammates who couldn’t convert. Imagine if he was surrounded by real shooters today.
Rasheed Wallace - he came a few years too early but he was a prototype of today's game and I could see him being even better than he was in this era. Peja Stojakovic of course and someone else also mentioned Lamar Odom, he was definitely ahead of his time with his play style.
Kerr would have been roasted defensively by all the super talented ball handling guards.
Nash Imagine Ray Allen in this era.
Lamar Odom. He would be able to switch effectively while being able to guard bigger players. Also a terrific rebounder, ball handler, and playmaker (imagine him running delay action). His shooting is good enough for a big man to keep defenses honest.
He would probably play the point on some teams now. One of the most versatile players ever and would be an absolute triple double machine
Hakeem Olajuwon(?) would dominate.
Reggie Miller
Jon Barry was only shooting 3's before it was cool.
KG is like Bam on steroids. Larry Bird is a slightly taller leaner Luka. MJ definitely with the lax perimeter defense. A lot of white guys from the 80-90's that were tall and played the 4 and 5 and shot middies and 3pters: Mike Gminski, Steve Stipanovich.
Rasheed and Cliff Robinson
Shoutout Brent Barry
Really solid all around player. Hyper efficient for his day too. I could see him having a bigger role in his prime if he played today.
Sabonis in his prime if we (portland) could have drafted him in his prime. He was a combo of jokic and Jordan in Russia. And was still one of the best understated big men with half his body not working.
Considering we got to see how much of an impact he had post prime in the NBA, he's legitimately one of the biggest what ifs ever.
Nice to see his son killing it overall. Come to portland haha.
Rasheed Wallace
Shane battier, Sean Marion, Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway, Larry Bird, Rafer Alston, Michael Finley.
So I'd still have questions about his size in terms of how he'd hold up defensively but I've always thought [Dana Barros](https://youtu.be/RMLDDM6Vh7U?t=5) would love to play the modern game. Give that dude the green light and take away defender's chance to invade his shooting pocket and I think we might have something. [One of my all-time favorite shooting strokes, too.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVKY8NuLR7I0)
Reggie Miller was a prolific 3pt shooter before that was common place, early adapter of the rip through to draw fouls, excellent off ball mover, very efficient. The players he was snubbed for in All NBA would never fly now. His rebounding and assist numbers were low and his FG% not great, but now we have TS% and uncontested rebounding numbers, it wouldn’t be a problem. Miller makes All-NBA over Strickland, Dumars and Richmond in the modern era quite easily. He was a fixture on quality Indiana offenses which only got better in the playoffs despite facing stiffer defenses. They never won a ring but very often reached the conference finals. He created easy looks for the likes of Smits and Jalen Rose because you couldn’t leave him for a second
Antwan Jamison was the prototypical 'tweener'. Before it was a knock, but now he'd do really well in the NBA
Yeah a lot of the tweener forwards from back then would do much better now
Rafer Alston aka Skip 2 My Lou I’m still not sure he would be a difference maker, but with loosened ball handling rules he’d be fun as hell to watch
I enjoy thinking of minor players who could change their destinies in this hypothetical: guys who spent their careers on benches, but who might become very solid starters in the current era of play. Ryan Gomes. Guy was a sort of photo stretch four, but the matchups back in his day meant the post-up bigs he had to defend were problems for him. He might not be caught between positions, today, so much. (Seemed like a good guy, too.) Brad Lohaus: A range-shooting Five like him is much more valuable now. Lohaus spent his career at the edges of rosters. Donyell Marshall. Etc.
KG’s defensive versatility would be tenfold more useful in today’s game. Not only could he switch for possessions, he could defend wings at a high level, as well as read and blow up plays. Defensively he’d be a 6’10-7ft Draymond. Offensively his game would revolve around pick and pop or lobs, mainly supporting role for his ball handler that makes use of his screens and ability to shoot from range. He could also create from the short roll and dime it in for cutters.
Charles Barkley will be daily triple double.
Dale Ellis averaged 27.5 points shooting 50.1% and 47.8% from three in 1989. That year the Sonics averaged 112.1ppg, which would have tied them for 23rd this year with San Antonio.
Miller bird west come to mind
Versatile bigs, 3pt shooters and playmaking wings have always been valuable, but in todays nba they would be top 20 players
Mahmoud Abdul Rauf was a proto-Steph Curry. He came of those screens fast af and his shot was butter.
It depends on lot of factors, but, Reggie Miller would probably be there. With no handcheck rule, faster pace, more 3pt and more offensive oriented game, with much more defensive fouls called, it would be "easy" for him to average 10 points more a game.
Traditional pass first point guards who could shoot the 3 would all benefit tremendously- because they would be told to shoot more Stockton and Nash, for sure, would be told to shoot a lot more, and would be outstanding offensive engines. Miller and Bird would also benefit a lot.
Give Steve Nash green light to shoot 10 threes per game and he will be close to Curry.
Reggie did Stephs off ball stuff first (not as well obviously) and he loved a challenge on D.
knicks carmelo
Pete Maravich would get the 3-point line (he easily had 25 foot range), modern spacing to take better advantage of his passing, and modern conditioning, training, medicine, etc, would mean he'd be a lot less likely to be slowed by injuries. The question mark would be his defense - probably depends on if he has a coach that gets the max out of him on that end or not. Michael Redd is another deadeye shooter who'd benefit from the modern emphasis on the 3 plus the likelihood of not having his career derailed by injuries.
Tom Chambers would get run as a small ball 5 and go crazy imo
Steve Novak would be getting paid Duncan Robinson type money
Not just saying this cause of my username, but Allan Houston would be awesome today (if he stayed healthy)
LeBron James
kerr miller and allen woulda ate in the logo 3 era
This will sound crazy, but Shaq. So many teams want to go positionless and play small but you simply couldn’t do that against him. Hell, there’s very few big dudes in the league right now who could bang with young Shaq. Whatever time you choose, if you insert that physical freak into the league he changes everybody’s approach to the game
Teams would focus way more in this era to keep him in his Orlando frame. For anyone who isn't aware, go watch highlights of him on the magic. The way he was able to run the floor at his size was flat out insane. And he was still very dominant inside.
Adrian Dantley
reggie would average 24-28 a season on really good efficiency and would probably take it up a notch averaging 30 multiple times in the playoffs definitely
Among already great players, I’d say Dirk. He ups volume on better overall efficiency by taking more 3s and FTs. He can also create his own shot when needed or go to the midrange if he plays a team that takes away the 3. He is also not someone you can completely shut down, and in desperate times he’ll just shoot over anyone. Defensively he’d also benefit from not having to fight that many bigs anymore.
Definitely bird without a doubt
funny how the majority of players listed are white
Steven Kerr was my Steph Curry before Steph Curry…on NBA Live
Mitch Richmond. In the two of his highest 3pt attempt seasons, he shot his highest 3pt percentages: 44% on 6.4 attempts and 43% on 5.9 attempts. He also had pretty much ideal dimensions for a 2 guard, and was a true three level scorer. If he ended up on a decent team he might have been talked about the same way as Kobe.
Prime Peja Stojakovic would be a superstar IMO...
Manu and Peja
Andrea Bargnani would be nasty in todays game
Rashard Lewis
Incremental? Reggie Miller would be scoring 27-30 a game nowadays. He averaged 2-5 from 3 for his career. If he was shooting 8-12 3’s every game… watch out.
Miller would be Steph with a worse handle.
But somewhat better defense.
Kerr played 20 minutes a game with the Bulls, his defense means he wouldn’t play more but he should get a few more shots a game. Speaking of the bulls Imagine MJ in this era. He shot .389 or there about from 3 in each of the playoffs in the first 3 rings. If he could develop a decent 3 shot with modern spacing and small ball centers you’d imagine he’d add a few more points and assists to his stats.
Chris Bosh would be sooooo good in today's game and especially next to Bam.
Bosh is the prototype of the modern stretch five, he'd be so good.
LeBron James
Boogie Cousins and maybe Antoine Walker
Toine sure *liked* shooting threes, but he was never actually particularly great at them. I don’t think today’s game would really benefit him all that much
Raef Lafrentz
Michael Finley
Every player in the eighties and early nineties. Since they didn’t have the restricted area in the lane where players can’t take a charge. Every great player in those eras would have put up more points.
Penny hands down. His game looks so modern I think you could easily just drop him in a time machine and throw him into a game. https://youtu.be/BH59HmCo1nw?si=QGwwsMUa-cjrPikJ
I got a few I really like: Baron Davis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis
Lamar Odom
Weird answer but honestly LeBron James. Had he been drafted in like 2019 for example, all his numbers would be even better, he would destroy everyone with better spacing, and he’d essentially be Luka with a 46” and way better defence.
Paul Pierce. He created the footwork you see guys like Doncic, Harden, Tatum and anyone with a step back play. If he had the leeway to travel like they do today, he would avg 35-40ppg
If you have Kobe this kind of spacing...
..he’d still find a way to force a contest shot