Adam Silver provided some quality insight into the modern-day NBA trends and how the league was trying to strike a balance between the hard physicality of the sport from the 90s.
“I’ll answer it coming from the fan in me,” Silver told Kevin Garnett on KG Certified when asked about the return of hand-checking in the league. “There was a point in the late 90s when the game became too physical.”
“And I think we lost some of the fans over time in the process. Physicality where a big, strong player could come in, and prevent an incredibly skilled player from doing those kinds of things. I think not a small player in this case, but someone like Stephen Curry. When you do the kind of things you can do on the court.”
“When you look at his ability to move through the paint, that if guys could just bang him and knock him to the ground, as that was the case once in the league. I don’t think that would be a better brand of basketball. I also think we have to find the right balance.”
Silver makes valid points. From hard pounding on the floor to ticky-tacky fouls, the league’s image has always oscillated from hard to soft, and now as the modern-day game blends trends, the time is ripe to bring back dominant bigs and the sorely missing physicality that’s taken a backseat.
Kevin Durant Had Earlier Questioned The Physicality Of The 80s And 90s NBA
Prior to Silver’s statements, it was Kevin Durant who shed light on the 80s and 90s NBA,
“I go back and watch a lot of those ’90s film, that ’90s film, ’80s stuff, and they play physical, but I just think they got away with a lot of flagrant fouls,” Durant said. “I think that’s why they call their era more physical than ours because we play physical here, too.”
Durant’s comments came at the time Isiah Thomas and his Detroit Pistons were trending following the latter’s blockbuster interview with KG. Guess, in a way, the credit goes to Garnett for bringing out the best in his interviews.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
