The Fraught Futility of Comparing Basketball Eras

Younger basketball fans are “done with the 90s”. Collectively as a viewing public we should be done with comparing eras and appreciating the evolving nature of basketball

“We’re done with the 90s”. If you spend any time on the basketball and sports section of TikTok, there is a good chance that you have seen some think pieces and long-winded opinion rants about the athletic inferiority of the NBA in the 1990s (or simply “the Jordan era”) when compared to today’s more athletic and skilled game. The root of this, like many basketball debate topics on the internet, is fueled by the comparison between LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Younger fans have taken to YouTube and have watched full games of the NBA Playoffs when Jordan was at his apex and winning titles. The conclusions have been that the era’s reputation for tough defense from teams such as the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, and New York Knicks was overblown. That the concepts employed by teams were simplistic when compared to what we see in today’s game. The final thesis of many of these fans was that Michael Jordan’s era was far inferior to LeBron James’ era, meaning that James was the better player. But the flaw in this thought exercise is that timelines in basketball evolution are so different from generation to generation and it becomes disingenuous to both parties…