Shaquille O’Neal took to Instagram recently to share a video where Michael Jordan was talking about how different the NBA is today compared to when he entered it in 1984.
You can check out the video down below.
“These kids don’t even have a clue of how we had to grow up or how we had to play,” Jordan said. “Physically it was a much more physical game than what it is today. Couldn’t walk across the lane without getting checked or screens, illegal screens, holding. You always had to pay a price. If you were aggressive and you were a gung-ho guy and you go in, you go in with the understanding that I’m gonna get hit, I’mma pay the price, but that’s part of the game. I’m not going to be afraid to go inside.”
You certainly were allowed to be a lot more rough and physical during the time that Jordan came into the league. The “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons famously roughed him up with hard fouls whenever he attempted to score at the basket, but it did not deter him one bit.
I quite frankly find it somewhat miraculous that Jordan only ever suffered one major injury during his career considering the punishment he took. The players of today certainly would have a difficult time going up against what he had to deal with.
Just an example is how any kind of contact to the head of a player driving to the basket today leads to flagrant fouls being called. Jordan and the rest of the players of his day, though, seldom got any kind of protection and simply had to deal with it.
Michael Jordan Revealed The Lack Of Focus In Today’s Athletes Is Why He Never Wanted To Be A Coach
While a fair few ex-players go into coaching when they retire, it was never something that the Chicago Bulls icon wanted to do. Jordan once revealed why he never wanted to be a head coach in the NBA.
“You know my biggest problem from a competitive standpoint is the focus of today’s athlete and the focus of where I saw the game, how I pursued the game. It changes and it’s totally different. So for me to ask that individual to focus on the game the way I played the game in some ways would be you know unfair for that kid to have to endure that and if he didn’t do it, no telling where my emotions would be.”
Jordan also added that he doesn’t believe he has the patience for the job and felt it was not something he could do from an emotional standpoint. Most great players do end up failing as coaches, and Jordan might have as well.
Shaquille O’Neal Says It Would Be A Slaughterhouse Out There If He Played In Today’s NBA
While Jordan has been somewhat critical of today’s players from time to time, he has been nowhere near as harsh as O’Neal. The big man routinely goes off on how the game is played today and the players as well. When speaking about the complaints over the criticism he routinely dishes out, O’Neal took a big shot at today’s players.
“People are always like, ‘oh you hate me.’ It’s not that I’m hating, I wish I was playing with these buttercups right now. I wish I was. I promise you I wish I was playing. It’ll be a slaughterhouse out there.”
Considering the bigs of O’Neal’s time had no answer for him at his peak, I’d say the ones from today would have little chance of stopping him either. It sure would have been interesting to see just how dominant he would have been today.
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