Dennis Rodman was one of the fiercest competitors in the NBA. The Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls left everything on the court to get a win, collecting five championships in his thriving and controversial career.
Back in the 80s and 90s, the game was very different. Teams played in a different style, using the paint and the mid-range as the primary source of points. Nowadays, the NBA lives and die by the 3-pointer.
Every team in the association has to have at least one capable shooter to win a championship. This often is underappreciated by old players, who don’t like to see what the game has become since they retired.
Rodman is one of those, as he recently admitted he doesn’t like to see players shooting from long distances. This has been common in the league for quite some time now, but the stars of the past aren’t fans of it. Talking on the Full Send Podcast, Dennis revealed that’s the reason why he doesn’t watch NBA anymore (19:40).
“I don’t know it’s just, it’s just very hard to watch. Because once you’ve played the game the way we played it intensity uh um just competitiveness. But now it’s more like you know I don’t want to watch players coming down shooting 50 footers, you know. That’s not that’s not basketball.”
Players like Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, and Trae Young have made long-range shots look like a mid-range. Of course, not everybody has the range they have, which makes them more unique.
Still, Dennis doesn’t like watching these guys doing these things since he never saw that during his time in the league. It’s hard to convince 90s superstars that the game evolves and Dennis perfectly shows that.
While some 50-, 60-year-olds don’t like what they watch in today’s league, more people are becoming NBA fans thanks to these dynamics.
