Preach. Often, people won’t realize this until they live through it themselves.

The same is true for era-specific criticisms. Those same folks who dismiss all previous generations because they’re not as advanced and elite as their current generation are going to be in for a rude awakening with the 2035 generation comes along and spams James Harden flopping compilations as a means of dismissing the accomplishments of an entire era.

The ELI5 version:

• There was no 3-point line at the time of implementation.

• As a result, games were often grind fests on account of both lack of spacing and camping defenders.

• The league wanted offensive players to showcase their skills, particularly as the ABA came through and began pumping out a more free-flowing product.

The slightly longer story:

The league implemented defensive restrictions in waves, beginning with a 1967 rule change that prohibited defenders from camping in the lane for longer than three seconds without clearly guarding an offensive player. This could be attributed to a number of factors, from opening up the game to combating the dominance of Wilt Chamberlain.

The league then further clamped down on zone defenses toward the end of the 1970s, again in an attempt to open up the game in an era where paints were packed in hopes of forcing games to become mid-range snoozefests.

While the 3-point line made its debut in 1979, it’s power would not be realized for years after the fact, likely leading many to believe in the continued necessity of the illegal defense rule to maintain a balanced game that provided opportunity for offensive players to work their way to the rim.

In concept and purpose, it’s not altogether different from some rule alterations we’ve seen in the modern game, legalizing the gather step, loosening dribbling restrictions, and empowering offensive players to reap the benefits of initiating contact in certain instances. It was primarily in the name of providing an attractive product.

In all honesty, it does look kinda slick via replay.

That being said, plays like this illustrate the beauty of innovation and how the game evolves over time because of it. I know there’s a certain group who’d use this type of clip to criticize one era while lifting up the present, but the present largely exists as it does because of plays like this. Somebody had to cross that threshold and show the way.

Those same critics may not even realize that the current era will be no different. Those who broke the mold this era will be endlessly copied and emulated until future generations look back at our bewilderment over certain plays from the '10s and wonder why we all treated them as being so spectacular.

Jack McCallum’s Dream Team dives into this element a good deal but it’s been a while since I’ve read it.

Considering how overwhelmingly talented the original Dream Team was relative to its competition, it was a little bit easier to manage egos.

Daly, a gregarious sort known as a Daddy Rich around our way (in Detroit), was an appropriate selection as coach, as he brought both the levity and know-how to the table. He knew he was managing the greatest team ever assembled but he also knew when to pull his foot off the gas pedal and let those guys be dudes. I remember a lot of golf being involved, Daly included.

But really, it’s tough to get too bent out of shape when everyone’s playing 20 minutes a night and you’re winning every game by 40. It was basically one drawn out coronation.

[Charania] Pistons will pick fifth in the 2025 NBA Draft

Pooh Richardson would be proud.

I’ve wondered if he had doubts about his contest repertoire. He won the McDonald’s High School Dunk Contest by jumping really high but doing somewhat “normal” dunks.

That being said, he would have had a better chance of winning than he may have imagined, depending on the year. For instance, his creativity couldn’t really step to someone like Jason Richardson, but considering how the contest ended in '04 (with both J-Rich and Fred Jones missing their final dunks), James could have coasted right through to victory. I remember Jones scoring a 50 on a routine dunk in the first round that year too. If Magic liked that, he would have loved LBJ’s version.

At the time, I thought 2006-ish would have been perfect for him. Young legs, either peaked or peaking athletically… I think he could have grabbed a dunk title no doubt.