For NBA fans that are 35 or older!

[cdubbz]

You can tell me your age and when you started to watch the NBA so people can understand your perspective better.

Tell me what you miss about the OLD NBA

Tell me what you like that has changed & evolved in the new NBA

I always like to hear from OG perspectives

I casually watched Warrior games in early 90s and knew who the players were. At recess we would pretend to be RUNTMC etc.

I can say I really got into the NBA in 1997 season especially the playoffs and NBA Finals. Jordans Bulls and the Utah Jazz were mesmerizing for me. Stockton & Malone pick n roll seemed unstoppable and Jordan was a wizard.

What I miss about the 'old NBA'. Defense was allowed to be physical. Hand checking and physical post play was fun to watch for me. No touch fouls and no flopping.

I like that offenses have become more complex as well as offensive players and their skillset. Toni Kukoc was KD before KD for me. 6'11 PF who could handle and shoot. That was nuts. I like that the league has become more skilled overall. 3point shooting, dribbling, passing, and IQ have all gotten better and a natural rise overtime.

[AussieBuck]

You can tell me your age and when you started to watch the NBA so people can understand your perspective better.

Tell me what you miss about the OLD NBA

Tell me what you like that has changed & evolved in the new NBA

I always like to hear from OG perspectives

I casually watched Warrior games in early 90s and knew who the players were. At recess we would pretend to be RUNTMC etc.

I can say I really got into the NBA in 1997 season especially the playoffs and NBA Finals. Jordans Bulls and the Utah Jazz were mesmerizing for me. Stockton & Malone pick n roll seemed unstoppable and Jordan was a wizard.

What I miss about the 'old NBA'. Defense was allowed to be physical. Hand checking and physical post play was fun to watch for me. No touch fouls and no flopping.

I like that offenses have become more complex as well as offensive players and their skillset. Toni Kukoc was KD before KD for me. 6'11 PF who could handle and shoot. That was nuts. I like that the league has become more skilled overall. 3point shooting, dribbling, passing, and IQ have all gotten better and a natural rise overtime.

Post play is massively more physical now. Perimeter defense is called soft but in the paint players get away with murder. This is why small ball works so well. Doesn't take size to simply shove a guy uncalled when he jumps into his hook shot.

[HomoSapien]

You can tell me your age and when you started to watch the NBA so people can understand your perspective better.

Tell me what you miss about the OLD NBA

Tell me what you like that has changed & evolved in the new NBA

I always like to hear from OG perspectives

I'm 36 and started watching in 96.

I miss rules that empowered defense. I miss physicality. I miss the midrange, post-game, and traditional center - offense that wasn't centered around just shooting threes. I miss NBC. I miss Michael Jordan... no one's as captivating as he was. I miss competitive integrity.

I like how much more global the NBA has gotten. Guys like Dirk, Giannis, Manu, Jokic, Luka have really enriched the NBA and brought a new flair to the game. I like that athletes today are more willing to take a stand on important issues. Overall, the product is significantly worse which is a shame because the talent level is fantastic.

[Pennebaker]

I started watching the NBA in 1989.

I don't miss anything about the old NBA except for maybe the NBA on NBC.

[Curmudgeon]

I miss the ABA more than I miss the old NBA: The ABA had the red, white and blue ball, the 3 point shot, a slam dunk contest, bad boys (John Brisker, Warren Jabali), unforgettable characters (Wendell Ladner), and great players (Dr. J., Rick Barry, Connie Hawkins, Alex English, George Gervin etc. etc.) The modern game was invented in the ABA by coaches like Doug Moe.

When the Nets beat the Knicks in the preseason in 1973 at MSG the crowd was stunned. The fact was that Julius Irving, Larry Kenon (Dr. K), John (the Hammer) Williamson, Billy Paultz, Brian Taylor et. al. were every bit as good as the Knicks, who had won the NBA championship the previous year.

[Sothron]

The first game I remember was 1979. I truly miss low post play. It is fundamental to the game on both ends of the floor. Teams today would be so much better if they had one low post scorer as a starter if nothing else. It would open up the floor even more especially in half court sets.

I dislike that today's game is all about sameness. There used to be such distinct players and skill sets. Now it seems everyone is basically a perimeter jump shooter. I dislike the elimination of physical play. I never, ever want to see the return of Bad Boy Piston style of deliberately trying to injure opponents. But there was plenty of clean, physical play in the 80's and 90's I'd like to see return to the game.

What I like about today's game: the rightful appreciation of ball handling, passing, unselfish play, movement without the basketball and the almost total elimination of isolation offense. I loathe iso ball with a passion. Today's players are healthier and coached better than they were back in the day. You can see guys practicing more skills overall (except for low post play on offense and defense) which leads to a better overall product.

In short, if I had a magic wand I would relax hand checking, eliminate the rule about how long you can take to get into the low post, bring back some physical defense and for the sake of all that is holy bring back low post scorers. Everything else in today's game I would leave.

[hoosierdaddy34]

I started watching Magic’s rookie year in the finals. I like the modern game but I do miss some of the old stars.

[lobosloboslobos]

8. I don't know why I feel this way but I used to go to a lot of Hornet games as a teenager and a young adult since I live in Charlotte and a NC native. Going to games is just not as fun as it used to be.

Boom. This is a big one for me, tho not everyone may agree. All the noise and distractions every time the play stops is just freaking annoying. Can't you have a minute to talk to the person you're at the game with without 5,000 decibels in your ears constantly? I remember the first time I experienced this, at a Vancouver Grizzlies game. I got 4 free courtside seats and invited some special folks and looked forward to a really fun night but we never got a chance to say a word to each other all night long because the moment the action stopped we were assaulted by mind-numbing noise. We left the game basically brain dead and bummed out. Having said that the games in Toronto in the late 90s and early 2000s were really fun because at 10 bucks a ticket the place was overrun by kids and teenagers yelling their brains out, which was very different and very fun. I remember taking my son and 6 of his friends for his birthday party - 8 tickets for 80 bucks you can't beat that. Chaos. Entertaining chaos. Can't imagine what it would cost today. But yeah i could definitely do without all the hyped up interludes and noise. Just let a guy watch the game, cheer and boo, talk with his buds and drink in peace would ya?

[dzumaal]

Feeding into the big man.

This!!

Handchecking.

And the different offenses, as people have already mentioned.

38 now. Started watching when I was about 10 or 11 but honestly the chances to watch anything were, to say the least, extremely limited.

[syntax]

Born in 81. Grew up watching Aussie domestic ball. Can't stand the way NBA is officiated. It in no way represents real basketball. Would rather watch an NBL game than NBA any day of the week.

[Pharaoh]

NBA can't play ball like they used to, but they have their ways. One trick the NBA pulls now is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Oklahoma City. I wanted to see what the Shawn Kemp fuss was about. So I decided to go to Seattle, which is what they called Oklahoma City in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of Magic Jordan on 'em. "Gimme five MJs for a quarter," you'd say. Now where were we... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have any white onions, because of the CBA lockout. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

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[Curmudgeon]

Born in 81. Grew up watching Aussie domestic ball. Can't stand the way NBA is officiated. It in no way represents real basketball. Would rather watch an NBL game than NBA any day of the week.

Yes, the discrepancy between how the NBA game is officiated on the perimeter vs down on the blocks is staggering. On the perimeter the defender can't even breathe on a shooter. Down low you can bang and bang, even though the defender has established position.

[DNice68]

Just turned 35, and have been following the NBA since the 70s. Miss cocaine.

Funny!

[Ryoga Hibiki]

You can tell me your age and when you started to watch the NBA so people can understand your perspective better.

Tell me what you miss about the OLD NBA

Tell me what you like that has changed & evolved in the new NBA

I always like to hear from OG perspectives

I don't miss old NBA and I started in the early to mid 90s.

Sent from my Nokia 3210 using RealGM mobile app

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Not 35, but nearly 35

I miss motion offences. I miss the Triangle, Flex, Princeton, offences that result in the most pure basketball play - the backdoor cut for an open layup. Offences that don't require a player that dribble the air out of the basketball for 20 seconds.

I hate that defences aren't allowed any physicality outside of the post, that has flow on effects on requiring a switching perimeter defence. I hate offences that call for non-stop picks and having the defence switch until you get a 1v1 mismatch you can exploit, all for a 30ft step back jumper. I hate that analytics have resulted in Moreyball copycats.

But most of all, I hate not seeing any variety of basketball styles.

Ok, when was that? In the 90s most team were playing a super boring ISO basketball.
Early 00s the Kings were the only real motion offense around.

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[cdubbz]

The post up game. Seeing a highly skilled and sure footed big man like Hakeem on the block was a thing of beauty.

Hell - I even miss Mark Jackson, Sam Cassell, Gary Payton backing down defenders in the block and abusing smaller guards. Andre Miller seems like the last point guard to bully in the post. I guess I miss the grind of the game, but yes it was too slow at times.

[BigGargamel]

I miss when superteams weren't really a thing

Like the Shaq/Kobe Lakers?
Like the 80's Lakers/Celtics?

Why do people think super teams are a new concept? The only difference in the 80's before free agency bad GM's were just giving these great teams more great players.

[khufure]

I dunno if this is the right place for it but the worst part of the NBA is still the refs and the feeling of it being rigged and called unjustly. The rules change over time... fine whatever... offenses getting more empowered. I can live with that. It's exciting to see long range bombs! But call the damned game by the rules. If you don't wanna call it by the rules then change the rules to how you call it. Get rid of all the Joey Crawfords & Scott Fosters.

[Pelon chingon]

I miss the deep rooted competitiveness of the players. These days nobody seems to give an ish when their man scores which makes the game feel more like ping pong. I don't like how protected the guards are on the perimeter, some checking on and off the rock would balance the game more. When was the last time you seen an illegal screen called? Again going back to offense/defense balance.

[Duffman100]

Starting watching probably around the Jordan vs Pacers / Knicks days (92/93 maybe?) so I was 11?