Frank Coztansa wrote:
FavreFan wrote:
Of course Jordan would dominate in today's game. Any other take is overthinking it.
I figure most sane people know that Jordan and perhaps Babe Ruth are the only two guys in the history of team sports that you could transport into any era and their career numbers would still be remarkably similar.
I guess maybe Jordan wouldn't have had quite as many career points if he played before the 3 point shot, but thats it.
I'd say that in basketball has some other terrific cases of players who would be able to dominate in later decades especially because of several rule changes along the way. I think, for example, that Jerry West and Oscar would have had better stats in their career than they did in their era. Imagine, for example, how many threes that West would have had and Oscar's assist and point totals would have been increased also. The other guy clearly would be Wilt. There would be no one in the NBA who could stop Wilt and with the ticky tack fouls that they call now, even his terrible free throw shooting would still add more points at the foul line.
In baseball also, the greats of the game would also be great in the modern day. For sure, Ruth would dominate but there are also many others. Ted Williams was the best hitter that I ever saw and next to Ruth the best hitter of all time. Imagine him as a DH. He probably could have DHed into his 50s. Mays, Aaron, Rose, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn, and others would still be great today. And don't forget the Negro Leagues. Imagine Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel and the like playing today.
In football its different to a degree. Some like Bill George, Doug Adkins and Butkus would still be great but if you go earlier I don't know. Probably there would be some running backs and defensive backs that would do well but linemen and lbs would have, I think, a harder time handling the size of the personnel now and their speed.