What was your favorite era of nba basketball and why?

[walk with me]

Pretty simple question. Lots of people would say the best time is now but let’s see how that stands up in this thread.

I’m personally a big fan of the nba from when lebron entered to before he went to the heat.

Every year we had such fresh storylines and it seemed like the nba was very open year to year. Spurs, suns, mavs, heat, lakers, cavs, magic, pistons, Celtics all seemed like legitimate contenders in that 6-7 year window. Then a few random dark horse teams bulls, nuggets, jazz who had an outside chance of making some noise. Anyways that’s my pick... how about you?

[Raps in 4]

I only started watching in the 90s. I liked the 90s for its competitiveness. I like the style of play today (I don't enjoy the lack of competitiveness though).

[Max123]

I really like watching players from that 1985-1995 period of time: Magic, Bird, MJ, Hakeem etc. To me it’s mostly because I just have yet to experience anything like watching Magic and Bird.

Edit: Other than that I honestly like where the league is right now and I can enjoy watching almost any matchup in the league excluding only a few teams.

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[drchaos]

Showtime Lakers

[dirkforpres]

Mid 2000s. Kobe, Dirk, Garnett, Duncan, McGrady, Shaq, Nash, Pierce, etc.

The game was sped up but defense was still being played, the 2003 draft class was becoming stars, the dunk contest was still entertaining, and high school kids could enter the draft

[Bobbymcgee]

The NBA on NBC era was my favorite. Just felt so much more epic with that John Tesh music and Bob Costas intro. Plus, I loved watching the epic battles in the post between NBA Centers like Ewing, Olajuwon, Robinson, Shaq. And of course Michael Jordan.

[Optms]

My favorite, for nostalgic purposes - Early 00's

The best, objectively speaking - 2007-2013

Back to early 00's level - 2014-2016

Watchable - 2017-2019

Trash level - 2020 onwards

[HotelVitale]

^Folks talk down a lot on that early/mid 2000s, but it was actually some really good basketball with a lot of competition every season for the crown. The East was weaker, sure, but often had 2-3 contenders and the West often had 6-7 legit good teams (good teams like the Deron-Boozer Jazz or the TMac-Yao Rockets were second tier in the West). The league seemed a little more competitive/scrappy then too, though maybe that's hazy memory (only remembering the more intense PO games and not the mundane ones).

[Meat]

for nostalgic purposes 90's knicks ball, but if i wasn't a homer, early 2000's kings/nets leading into the amare\nash suns

[Ballerhogger]

Early 2000s to 2010 . A mix 3 point shooting and mid range game and inside game.

[Joshyjess]

80's - Bird Vs. Magic. Celtics Vs. Lakers - greatest rivalry ever. Every time those two teams met it was like game 7 of the finals. You also had the bad boys of Detroit, the Twin Towers of Houston. The Dr.J led Sixers. The intro of MJ, and so many incrdible players scattered throughout the league. And you had good old fashioned hand-checking.

[My Main Man]

I feel like most people have a certain nostalgia for the era when they started watching. I started watching around ‘89 when I was very young so I have a soft spot for the 90s where most big name players stuck with their teams to try to take down Jordan & Co. It seems very ‘old man yells at cloud’ but it was great knowing that ‘Ewing is a Knick’ or ‘Reggie is a Pacer’ et al and the team will be tweaked around them to try to be their best. The long running storyline seemed easier for a casual fan to watch. I have a friend who is a casual fan who comes to games with me sometimes and every time we go, I get “wait, Kawhi is on a new team?!” or some similar questions and I spend the first quarter explaining who plays where now.

[PistolPeteJR]

I swear we had this thread like 2 weeks ago?

[shi-woo]

2003-2014 was the peak of basketball in my honest to god opinion. The teams, the story lines, and just the overall make up of the league was incredible.

Starts with the epic 2003 draft. The Shaq-Kobe Lakers break up, Shaq goes to MIA, wins one with Wade. DET-SAS dominate their divisions for a bit and win some rings. Teams like the Nash Suns's, Dirks Mavs, and Kidd's Net's were playing great basketball then.

The story then pivots when the phenom LeBron James carries a rag tag team of misfits to the finals, and gets spanked by Tim Duncan and the Spurs. Tim Duncan pulls the young James aside and whispers in his ear "It's going to be your league soon." Seems this 2003 draft is destined for greatness.

Celtics finish with one of the worst records in the NBA, but doesn't get a top pick to draft KD or Oden. Rumblings of Kobe and Pierce requesting trades if teams aren't competitive. KG comes out and requests a trade.

Oden drafted #1 and KD #2. SUPERSONICS trade Ray Allen to Celtics, and Lewis goes to Orl. Celtics become favorites to trade for KG, and do so, forming "The Big 3." Teams gear up, Lakers pull off the steal of the century and get Pau Gasol. For the next 3 years it would be Celtics or Lakers in the Finals, Kobe wins 2 more without Shaq, and Pierce, Allen, and Garnet cement their legacies with their sole ring. Thunder rise, Cavs keep falling.

That NBA had Kobe's Lakers, Big 3 Celtics, Young OKC, Dirk Mavs, Howards Magic, LeBrons Cavs, Melo's Nuggets, Duncans Spurs. Just so many good teams from that era, and every playoff series after the 1st round was a bloodbath. Baby Bull v Celtics being a good example.

Then the Decision happens, and that player who Duncan whispered those words to took his destiny into his own hands, and teamed up with Wade and Bosh, the other stars from the famous 03 draft, and become the instant villains of the NBA.

We see Dirk cement his legacy, and James' comes into question. The whole world is laughing at the Heat. Next year the upstart Thunder led by KD get stomped by LeBron, the King finally has his ring. The world wonders how many times we see this matchup. LeBron avenges his first finals lose and beats the Spurs on one of the greatest Ray Allen shots of all time. Spurs are devastated.

Then finally in 2014, the Spurs come back, avenge their humiliating defeat from the prior year, and usher in the new era of team ball. The era ends where it began, with Tim duncan and LeBron James. James leaving MIA after 4 strait is what continued the trend in superteams, and the new era of team ball played by the Spurs but with better players (Curry and Thompson), modern day NBA came into fruition 2015. We're still that era, but will be transitioning soon.

That Era of the NBA had possibly the best narratives that worked naturally to create drama, from the Shaq/Kobe fued, the greatness of the 2003 draft class, and the return of the the Celtics/Lakers rivalry. There was always something naturally brewing and to look forward to

That era introduced the OKC Thunder, and Seattle losing their team was huge. Not just for the obvious reason of losing a staple franchise, but the Sonics blowing their team up had monumental impact throughout the league. Rashard was the driving force behind what SVG did in Orlando. Ray Allen obviously fit perfectly with the Big 3 and eventually Heatles. Drafting 3 MVP's and consolidating that talent for so many years also has to be taken into account from that team. They were the first small market team to do what they did in such a short amount of time. They set the blueprint for Hinkie.

The diversity of teams was also nice. You still had teams like the Celtics, Pistons, Spurs, Pacers, Magic, Bulls, and Grizz, who would just grind you, and then teams like the Suns, Mavs, later Spurs, and Nuggets that would just run and gun.

People will say nostalgia, but this was peak NBA, and we all knew it too. Think about how many teams had a contending team in that time, most fans really enjoyed that era.

Heat, Cavs, Pistons, Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, Suns, ORL, Bulls, Nuggets, Jazz, Grizz, Wiz, OKC, all had sustained success throughout that era. So many teams made playoff runs. For teams like Orl, Heat, Celtics, Cavs those were the best teams your franchise had putout in a long time.

[Beethoven]

Any era where my team just wins a championship and my city and surrounding areas celebrate.

[JRoy]

My favorite era is when POR drafts a promising young star, before he loses his career to injury and the FO fails to acquire complementary talent.

[rzzzzz]

‘75-‘85. You got the last beautiful flare of the ABA that then energized the NBA with all that entertaining athleticism. Doc and Walton. The smooth excellence of the Sonics. Moses. And Magic and Bird bringing their NCAA battle into the NBA for Showtime.

[Kingdibs19]

Danny Granger, Corey Magette, Kevin Martin era

[RoundMoundOfRebound]

[ALPHAandOMEGA]

90s-mid00s...........shouldnt there be a poll?????