All Top 5 PFs were active in the NBA in 98-99

[Alexander]

Stealing this from Reddit, but it's interesting that in that season:
Tim Duncan was 22 and a champion
Kevin Garnett was 22
Dirk Nowitzki was a rookie
Karl Malone was 35 and put up 24/9/4
Charles Barkley was on his last season and only played 4 games

also
Dennis Rodman was a 37 year old Laker
Shawn Kemp was with Cleveland and had 21/9
Chris Webber put up 20/13/4 in his first season with SAC
Jermaine O'Neal hadn't been traded to Indiana yet and was behind...
Rasheed Wallace
Larry Johnson was a Knick
Antoine Walker put up 19/9 as a 22 year old Celtic
Juward Howard put up 19/8 for the Wizards
Antonio McDyess posted 22/11 for Denver
Tom Gugliotta hadn't fallen off yet and had 17/9
Rashard Lewis was a rookie
Antawn Jamison was a rookie
Shareef Abdur Rahim had 23/8/3 as a 23 year old Vancouver Grizzly
Derrick Coleman was 31
Charles Oakley was 35
Cliff Robinson was around

Can anyone think of other bizarrely stacked seasons like this?

[Alexander]

My buried post in that reddit thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/60dtf1/in_the_1999_and_2000_seasons_the_top_5_power/) was about the PG crop in 09-10:

Stephen Curry (2xMVP), rookie
James Harden (MVP?), rookie for OKC
Sophomore Russell Westbrook (MVP?)
Kyle Lowry was a 4th year player stuck on the Rockets bench
Mike Conley was in his 3rd year with Memphis
Steve Nash (MVP) led the league in assists
Goran Dragic was in his third year on the Phoenix bench
Jason Kidd was 36 and set some milestones
Tyreke Evans won ROY and averaged 20/5/5. He played PG this season.
Brandon Jennings was runner up and dropped 55 in a game
Aaron Brooks won MIP
Deron Williams was 2nd team all NBA with Utah
Derrick Rose was one year away from MVP with Chicago
Chris Paul was doing his thing in his fifth season with NOH
Rajon Rondo led the league in steals and made it to the finals with Boston
Chauncey Billups averaged 19.5 for Denver and was an All-Star
Allen Iverson (MVP) was fading quick in his final season.
Gilbert Arenas was 28 and still putting up numbers
Baron Davis was on the Clippers
Andre Miller, 9th in career assists, was still a starter for Portland
Tony Parker was 26 and had George Hill backing him up for the Spurs

[LukasBMW]

They don't make Power Forwards like they used to! LOL.

[Alexander]

They don't make Power Forwards like they used to! LOL.

That was about the year I got into basketball and Garnett and Jamison and Abdur Rahim were my heros because my coaches wanted me to play in the post but I preferred the perimeter and I felt that tweeners were the best of both worlds and the wave of the future.

[giordunk]

I think last year was a pretty legendary crop of active players overall... The top 10-15 we have now which is one of the strongest crops of top 10-15, then you still have the fallen off guys like Melo, Wade, Pierce, Gasol, VC, Dwight, Parker, Ginobili. Then last year we still had Kobe, Duncan, and KG.

Then we also have a lot of future HoF level players this year who haven't made an All-Star game yet.

[AdagioPace]

HAkeem,DRob,Shaq,Ewing

not as impressive but still:
4 of the top 7 Centers ever were playing in the 90s
And Kareem retired only 4 years before 93, pity...he should have played more

[shawn_hemp]

It seems more stacked because we don't know what the current group of players will accomplish yet...

[cpower]

2011: MVP winners
Lebron
Kobe
Nash
Duncan
KG
Curry
Durant
Harden/Westbrook
Dirk
Rose
Shaq (last year)
AI (last year)

[Nowitness]

1987 just general all-time greats/HOFs in the league and most of them playing on at least All-Star level
Magic/Kareem/Worthy Lakers
Parish/Bird/McHale Celtics
Malone/Barkley/Irving 76ers
Jordan Bulls
Thomas/Dumas/Rodman Pistons
Stockton/Malone Jazz
Hakeem/Sampson Rockets
Drexler Blazers
Ewing Knick

[Alexander]

HAkeem,DRob,Shaq,Ewing

not as impressive but still:
4 of the top 7 Centers ever were playing in the 90s
And Kareem retired only 4 years before 93, pity...he should have played more

In addition to those big four that aren't Kareem and Wilt and Russell...

Alonzo Mourning was a rookie with 21/10 (HOF)
Dikembe Mutombo had 14/13/3.5 (HOF)
Kevin Willis 18/13, one of his better seasons at 30...and was in the NBA when he was 44!
Robert Parrish had 13/9, still a starter for Boston at 39...and then played four more seasons. (HOF)
Brad Daugherty was 20/10/4 for the Cavs. Holy ****, why don't I know more about this player?
Moses Malone, was 37 and in a bench role with Milwaukee. (HOF)
Bill Laimbeer was slowing down with the Pistons
Vlade Divac, one of the best passing centers ever, was 24 years old with the Lakers, 15/10/3/2 (FIBA HOF)
Rik Smits was around for Indiana, a 7'4" big with touch.
Manute Bol at 7'7" was still seeing semi-regular action.
Pervis Ellison was a recent #1 pick who was 17/9 for the Washington Bullets before injuries got to him.
Sam Bowie, the guy the Blazers took before Michael Jordan, was 31 and still a productive starter.

Damn. Imagine being 33 year old Milwaukee C Frank Brickowski, some guy I never knew about until today, who got to start over Moses Malone and practice against him, and you get to tell your kids that you played against ^^ALL^^ those guys (and Kareem!).

[cloudXXI]

In my opinion, Moses Malone is better than, at least, Robinson and Ewing.

[Alexander]

In my opinion, Moses Malone is better than, at least, Robinson and Ewing.

How long have you been following basketball?
How did Bob Lanier stack up against Moses? My dad would talk about Bob Lanier as a PIston, and I'd say, well, how good was he? and He'd tell me that he was about as good as Moses Malone in his prime. and I was like, well, who was he? and he was like, oh, he wasn't as good as Kareem. and then he'd go on about how he went to UCLA at the same time as Lew Alcindor and I never got a good answer on the Lanier-Malone thing. I think he just wanted to talk about Kareem the whole time, TBH.

I feel like Wilt and Russell and Kareem and Shaq and Olajuwon are untouchable, but man, people seem quick to cast aside the other greats and to replace them with the new hotness.

[djw]

They don't make Power Forwards like they used to! LOL.

A little off topic, but why do you include a Mercedes in your sig when your user name is LukasBMW?

[cloudXXI]

In my opinion, Moses Malone is better than, at least, Robinson and Ewing.

How long have you been following basketball?
How did Bob Lanier stack up against Moses?

I remember Dr. J, Larry, Magic, Moses.... but I think I have never seen Lanier.

[Rust_Cohle]

I think last year was a pretty legendary crop of active players overall... The top 10-15 we have now which is one of the strongest crops of top 10-15, then you still have the fallen off guys like Melo, Wade, Pierce, Gasol, VC, Dwight, Parker, Ginobili. Then last year we still had Kobe, Duncan, and KG.

Then we also have a lot of future HoF level players this year who haven't made an All-Star game yet.

We have great individual talent right now but in terms of quality teams the NBA is in scrappy place the eastern conference isn't great and the west is the weakest it has been in 10+ years easily.

[Mylie10]

I remember pining for big men in the old days when the Warriors sucked ass

[ItsThatEasy]

I remember pining for big men in the old days when the Warriors sucked ass

Shout out to Antawn Jamison's 50 point games.