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Thinking basketball's video has got me thinking about how different we would currently view most 1960 and 1970s players had they operated under today's rules besides the three-point line.


It makes me wonder which players would get boosted the most on real-gm

Wilt probably gets viewed as even more unstoppable with the boost he would get to his stats and offensive efficiency if he was allowed to go full out on the offensive end.


All the guards such as Jerry West and Oscar's impact goes up without the rules that prevented them from showing their full skillset.

I suppose guards go up, rim protectors go down

It would be interesting to see how defences of that era would adjust to the freedom of movement and modern-day dribbling rules plus physical post banging being allowed.


I suppose with no three-point line that Bigs would still be the most valuable players through it would be a lot closer then it was in reality

I wonder somethingh, imagine if the 3 point line was introduced in 1960

Would that move the 3 point revolution 20~ years ahead of schedule? (Would we have seen reggie millers shot the 3 at curry volume?)

How would 3-point heavy style work with 60's strict ballhandling rules?

What about 3-point era spacing and outsude shooting in a league with illegal defense rules?

If Chamberlain was allowed to play anything like Shaq he'd be easily the greatest ever. That one's obvious.

migya wrote:If Chamberlain was allowed to play anything like Shaq he'd be easily the greatest ever. That one's obvious.

Why? What makes you think Wilt was better suited to play Shaq style than Shaq himself?

Bob McAdoo- ahead of his time as far as a great shooting big

Elgin Baylor- spacing is better today. Baylor would better slashing wing than what he was in his heyday

Rick Barry- 3pt shooting range. Might average more assists today with his drive and his kick style

Hal Greer- modern shot release, good shooting ability, point guard skills

George Gervin and John Havichek- good to great offball shooters. Gervin would be monster scoring wise with modern spacing

Oscar Robertson- his playstyle is similar to how guards play today. Tall point guard who can post up smaller guards. Good off ball and can play multiple positions

Jerry West

Jack Sikma- good shooting big. Has potential to be a good 3 point shooter. Two way big. Can post and defend

Dan Issel- similar to McAdoo. Can shoot from outside as a big.

Narigo wrote:Bob McAdoo- ahead of his time as far as a great shooting big

Elgin Baylor- spacing is better today. Baylor would better slashing wing than what he was in his heyday

Rick Barry- 3pt shooting range. Might average more assists today with his drive and his kick style

Hal Greer- modern shot release, good shooting ability, point guard skills

George Gervin and John Havichek- good to great offball shooters. Gervin would be monster scoring wise with modern spacing

Oscar Robertson- his playstyle is similar to how guards play today. Tall point guard who can post up smaller guards. Good off ball and can play multiple positions

Jerry West

Jack Sikma- good shooting big. Has potential to be a good 3 point shooter. Two way big. Can post and defend

Dan Issel- similar to McAdoo. Can shoot from outside as a big.

McAdoo was deadly out to about 18 feet or so. But he had a funky release and almost a hesitation move on his jump shot that gives me serious doubt as to how well he could shoot it with that same release out to 24+ feet. If he wanted to be a 3-point shooter, I'd think he'd have to re-evaluate his jump shot mechanics and then we don't know how good he'd be under those circumstances. Or he could go the DeRozan route and largely ignore 3's and just focus on having a deadly midrange game.

Jerry Lucas is the guy who had better range than either McAdoo or Issel and was one of the few who regularly shot from legit 3-point range even though there was no 3-point line. And his shot mechanics were similar whether he was shooting from 15 feet or 25 feet so he wouldn't need to change any of his mechanics to shoot 3's. Back then, those long bombs were called "Lucas layups".

The most obvious one who I think benefits the most under this scenario would be Jerry West. Assuming the rule changes became effective years before his high school days so that he had the opportunity to be raised playing basketball under the new rules (as opposed to suddenly having the new rules implemented during his career), he'd be among the greatest 3-point shooters of his era. He was also an excellent slasher and his cuts to the basket would benefit from the increased spacing. And while his FTr rate was elite (his best seasons were almost Harden-esque), he'd probably shot a few less free throws since the one shot for a pre-penalty common foul rule would be gone. And while some younger fans today watch his film and conclude he was a poor dribbler without understanding the rules in place, I've always felt he had average handles. With the relaxed rules on carrying and travelling and years of his early being raised under those rules, I am confident that anyone watching him would conclude that he was at least an adequate ball-handler as opposed to a "poor" one. But his greatest attribute was that he was brilliant; one of the keenest basketball minds to ever exist. Like Russell, having West was liking having an extra coach on the floor who could see and anticipate things that others could not. West would be able to study what was and was not allowed under the "new" rules in terms of contact, defense, fouling, dribbling, etc. and be able to maximize them to the best of his considerable ability. He just had a superior bbIQ compared to the vast majority of his peers; his brain would allow him to take advantage of the "new" rules better than the next guy.

Samurai wrote:

Narigo wrote:Bob McAdoo- ahead of his time as far as a great shooting big

Elgin Baylor- spacing is better today. Baylor would better slashing wing than what he was in his heyday

Rick Barry- 3pt shooting range. Might average more assists today with his drive and his kick style

Hal Greer- modern shot release, good shooting ability, point guard skills

George Gervin and John Havichek- good to great offball shooters. Gervin would be monster scoring wise with modern spacing

Oscar Robertson- his playstyle is similar to how guards play today. Tall point guard who can post up smaller guards. Good off ball and can play multiple positions

Jerry West

Jack Sikma- good shooting big. Has potential to be a good 3 point shooter. Two way big. Can post and defend

Dan Issel- similar to McAdoo. Can shoot from outside as a big.

McAdoo was deadly out to about 18 feet or so. But he had a funky release and almost a hesitation move on his jump shot that gives me serious doubt as to how well he could shoot it with that same release out to 24+ feet. If he wanted to be a 3-point shooter, I'd think he'd have to re-evaluate his jump shot mechanics and then we don't know how good he'd be under those circumstances. Or he could go the DeRozan route and largely ignore 3's and just focus on having a deadly midrange game.

McAdoo played in Italy after his NBA career and he made 38% of his threes in that league on almost 2 attempts per game in 6 seasons. Of course, Euro 3P line is shorter, but I don't think we have a lot of reasons to doubt that he'd become a decent three point shooter.

70sFan wrote:

migya wrote:If Chamberlain was allowed to play anything like Shaq he'd be easily the greatest ever. That one's obvious.

Why? What makes you think Wilt was better suited to play Shaq style than Shaq himself?

His physical abilities

Bob Pettit was a very good shooter from distance for the PF position, I'd imagine it may have helped extend his career a bit (as he was still an All-NBA player when he retired).

Can't read.

Jerry West had legit 3-pt range, as can be seen from game footage we have. He was shooting from that range a few times a game. He certainly benefits, maybe 3-4 pts. more per game. Since he already averaged 27 for his career, he would have a legit shot at a career average of 30+ per game. That puts him with Wilt and MJ as the only players to average 30+ per game for a career. Also, so would someone like Pete Maravich, as he had range as well.

migya wrote:

70sFan wrote:

migya wrote:If Chamberlain was allowed to play anything like Shaq he'd be easily the greatest ever. That one's obvious.

Why? What makes you think Wilt was better suited to play Shaq style than Shaq himself?

His physical abilities

Any specifics?

70sFan wrote:

migya wrote:If Chamberlain was allowed to play anything like Shaq he'd be easily the greatest ever. That one's obvious.

Why? What makes you think Wilt was better suited to play Shaq style than Shaq himself?

Wilt plays 10-15mpg more on the floor. Wilt simply doesnt have to be as good as anyone and still be better because he plays more mins so he has a bigger impact on the game and for his team. No player did/would face more 2nd and 3rd team bigmen than Wilt so his impact is always going to be bigger than any peer he is compared to.

Warspite wrote:

70sFan wrote:

migya wrote:If Chamberlain was allowed to play anything like Shaq he'd be easily the greatest ever. That one's obvious.

Why? What makes you think Wilt was better suited to play Shaq style than Shaq himself?

Wilt plays 10-15mpg more on the floor. Wilt simply doesnt have to be as good as anyone and still be better because he plays more mins so he has a bigger impact on the game and for his team. No player did/would face more 2nd and 3rd team bigmen than Wilt so his impact is always going to be bigger than any peer he is compared to.

I believe that Wilt was a better player than Shaq, but my question was about physical play, not about being better.

70sFan wrote:

migya wrote:

70sFan wrote:Why? What makes you think Wilt was better suited to play Shaq style than Shaq himself?

His physical abilities

Any specifics?

Strength and speed, in regards to physicality. He was also more skilled and versatile.

migya wrote:

70sFan wrote:

migya wrote:
His physical abilities

Any specifics?

Strength and speed, in regards to physicality. He was also more skilled and versatile.

To play like Shaq, you don't need a lot of speed though. He relied mostly on his big frame, powerful legs and quick explosions. Wilt was capable of that as well of course, but I'm not sure if more so than Shaq. He had other advantages that made him a better player (in my opinion), but I'm not sure if he'd do better at mimicing Shaq.