Shaq says today's NBA is 'very soft'
Count Shaquille O'Neal among the former NBA players sustaining the "in my day" chatter.
Shaq reminisced about the good old days with the Hong Kong bureau of the Wall Street Journal during a recent visit to the city. To be fair, he also said his wheelhouse era (the mid '90s through to the mid '00s) was softer than the NBA of the 1980s and before.
It was actually kind of soft when I played, too. Before I played, that was the real NBA, and I'm sure the guys that played before me would say that's the real NBA. But before I came in, with Mike playing against Detroit and the Bad Boys - that was the real NBA. I kind of played in the soft era, also. And then of course, with me being dominant, everybody crying about the rules, that just made it more so. But now it's very soft.
Never mind the various rule changes over the years, if you watch video of a typical 122-114 NBA contest of the mid '80s, you will also notice defense that was frequently in absentia. By the time O'Neal came into the league in the early '90s, the pendulum had swung to the "no easy baskets" grinding, plugging styles employed by the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.
Once rule changes altered that (something O'Neal should be familiar with, as a victim of Hack-a-Shaq), it paved the way for today's more offense-friendly style.
Whether you agree with Shaq or not, a legitimate conversation about toughness or softness would need to include the days of Kermit Washington decking Rudy Tomjanovich.
- With h/t to PBT