As one of the most accomplished players in basketball history, James Worthy knows more than most what it takes to succeed in the NBA. And while the game has progressed in many ways, Worthy isn’t exactly happy with how today’s players operate.
Speaking on the Stoney & Jansen Radio Show, he went off on the attitude of modern-day stars and explained how their process of learning the game has changed compared to past generations.
(via Uproxx):
“I mean, Kareem had four years with John Wooden, Michael Jordan and I had three years with Dean Smith, Isiah (Thomas) had some years with Bobby Knight. So you learned the fundamentals,” Worthy said. “Not only that, you learned how to live. You learned how to balance your freaking checkbook in college, there’s a lot of things. When you don’t get that, guys are coming to the NBA who are not fundamentally sound. All they do is practice threes, lift weights, get tattoos, tweet and go on social media. That’s it. So you don’t have that sound player; you have an athletic player. And that’s what’s happening to the game. It’s a lot of ISO and looking for mismatches. Bill Russell told me one time, they had five options off of one play. You don’t see that anymore.”
Worthy isn’t the only legend to be critical of modern-day players. Many guys over the years have expressed similar concerns about the mentality of players today, and not all of them are completely unfounded.
Compared to past generations, the guys today are less interested in being competitive and much more invested in building up their brand and being likable to the fans.
On the court, it has led to more ‘specialists’ than well-rounded two-way players. It’s just the way it is, and clearly Worthy has a problem with it.
