Napheesa weighs in on the GOAT talk.

[Mdoggie]

 

[Bigboote]

Geez, they must have been reading the Boneyard (kidding). We can't agree on the definition of a generational player, and they're saying the GOAT really means the best of a generation.

But the absolute last word on the goat has to be Frank Capra.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Phee all dressed up. The grown up in the room.

 

[McFly]

There's a considerable difference between "this generation" and "all time". Maybe it should be GOTE: Greatest Of This Era, or BUN, Best Until Now.

 

[Jackalope]

There's a considerable difference between "this generation" and "all time". Maybe it should be GOTE: Greatest Of This Era, or BUN, Best Until Now.

 

[JordyG]

I've been watching basketball since I was literally on my father knee, and for me the greatest player and athlete on the court I ever saw was Wilt Chamberlain. For those of this generation I say think the speed and athleticism of The Greek Freak with more strength than Shaq, and you have Wilt.

 

[tchalla1]

Pheesa seems to be saying the players of today are superior--there will come a day when the question will be asked whether Magic or Bird could have played in today's game. Incredibly I've heard it asked about Wilt. I hate cotemporary bias....

 

[eebmg]

Pheesa seems to be saying the players of today are superior--there will come a day when the question will be asked whether Magic or Bird could have played in today's game. Incredibly I've heard it asked about Wilt. I hate cotemporary bias....

She started to say that but I think she corrected herself by saying that different generations trained differently. The implication the way I heard it was the previous generations best would do just as well once they adopted the training, nutrition etc of this generation.

 

[The deacon]

She started to say that but I think she corrected herself by saying that different generations trained differently. The implication the way I heard it was the previous generations best would do just as well once they adopted the training, nutrition etc of this generation.

I appreciate that Pheesa tried to amend her opening comment, but I will never believe that Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Kareem, Pete Maravich, Julius Erving, on and on, couldn't have competed, perhaps even been among the best players today with the same training and nutrition they practiced way back when.

The depth of outstanding athletes is greater today, but the game is so much different it's hard to say the depth of quality basketball players is markedly deeper. I'd suggest today's players would find it quite difficult to play the game as it was played in the '60s, '70s and '80s... they'd be regularly called for carrying the ball and traveling, among other things.

As for the women's game, Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, et al, would do just fine in today's game. Heck, Sue and Diana are basically players from a different era and they're still tooling along... LOL!

As tchalla1 said, it's 'contemporary bias,' which unfortunately afflicts most media today because they have no clue about sports of any sort pre-dating their own memories.

 

[McFly]

I've been watching basketball since I was literally on my father knee, and for me the greatest player and athlete on the court I ever saw was Wilt Chamberlain. For those of this generation I say think the speed and athleticism of The Greek Freak with more strength than Shaq, and you have Wilt.

No argument here, but you can't reference Chamberlain without mentioning his contemporary, Bill Russell. Wilt's individual statistics were phenomenal, but basketball is, after all, a team sport, and Bill's teams had eleven rings to Wilt's two.
As everyone here is all too well aware, the only things that matter are championships.

 

[CL82]

Pheesa seems to be saying the players of today are superior--there will come a day when the question will be asked whether Magic or Bird could have played in today's game. Incredibly I've heard it asked about Wilt. I hate cotemporary bias....

It’s a valid point, in its own way, but go google a video on bird to see how dominant he was in his era. His passing alone was amazing. He just saw things that other people didn’t.

Danny Ainge talks about how he would ask the ball boy to find the scoring record in visiting arenas and then he would go out to break them. Another favorite story is one day he announced to his teammates and the press that he would play the following nights game entirely left-handed at least through the first 3 qtrs. At the end of 3 he had 29 points, all left-handed.

He often would tell the opposing player who was covering him exactly where he was going to get the ball and the shot he was going to take and then tell him there was nothing to do to stop it. Then he would get the ball exactly where he said he would, a take the shot he said he would, and make it

 

[cohenzone]

It’s a valid point, in its own way, but go google a video on bird to see how dominant he was in his era. His passing alone was amazing. He just saw things that other people didn’t.

Danny Ainge talks about how he would ask the ball boy to find the scoring record in visiting arenas and then he would go out to break them. Another favorite story is one day he announced to his teammates and the press that he would play the following nights game entirely left-handed at least through the first 3 qtrs. At the end of 3 he had 29 points, all left-handed.

He often would tell the opposing player who was covering him exactly where he was going to get the ball and the shot he was going to take and then tell him there was nothing to do to stop it. Then he would get the ball exactly where he said he would, a take the shot he said he would, and make it

Ainge was an all around great athlete. Played pro baseball.

 

[CL82]

Ainge was an all around great athlete. Played pro baseball.

Just to be clear, Ainge talked about how Bird would ask the ball boy for the arena record, which Bird would go and break. That wasn’t clear from the way I wrote the post.

The take away is that Larry Bird was always challenging himself.

 

[JordyG]

No argument here, but you can't reference Chamberlain without mentioning his contemporary, Bill Russell. Wilt's individual statistics were phenomenal, but basketball is, after all, a team sport, and Bill's teams had eleven rings to Wilt's two.
As everyone here is all too well aware, the only things that matter are championships.

I disagree. Robert Horry has 7 rings, and I wouldn't say he's fits this milieu at all.

 

[JordyG]

I appreciate that Pheesa tried to amend her opening comment, but I will never believe that Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Kareem, Pete Maravich, Julius Erving, on and on, couldn't have competed, perhaps even been among the best players today with the same training and nutrition they practiced way back when.

The depth of outstanding athletes is greater today, but the game is so much different it's hard to say the depth of quality basketball players is markedly deeper. I'd suggest today's players would find it quite difficult to play the game as it was played in the '60s, '70s and '80s... they'd be regularly called for carrying the ball and traveling, among other things.

As for the women's game, Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, et al, would do just fine in today's game. Heck, Sue and Diana are basically players from a different era and they're still tooling along... LOL!

As tchalla1 said, it's 'contemporary bias,' which unfortunately afflicts most media today because they have no clue about sports of any sort pre-dating their own memories.

I agree that recency bias always has the weight of modern viewpoints. However, Phessa did opine the caveat that with today's training yesterdays athletes would (perhaps) have been as good. As for Cheryl Miller, well, it's my opinion that she would have dominated the "W" today. That woman was nice in at all three levels. An all time baller.