https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLvTGBy-ESg

Seriously, NBA on NBC, brings fucking chills still.

One of the great sports themes. It's one of those that's so goddamn good that it should be legally binded to the league, independent of network ownership.

Same goes for the NFL on Fox, which they have fucked up so badly thanks to making it the "Fox Sports" theme, playing it over fucking baseball of all things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbU4fPYRvcY

MLB on Fox already had a kickass theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6__Xr3ouAI

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It really isn't sentimental romanticization. It was generally acknowledged in its time that the league was in serious trouble pre Bird and Magic.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

They did have a prime tape-delayed timeslot at 10:30pm on CBS weeknights for Finals games.

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You know me like that.

That was something else. I clearly remember that. It is pretty well documented the players of the time and the Stern/NBC partnership made the golden age. One drawback from my point of view is it also brought the marketing and focus on single players. That led to "who is the man" type on ball.

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Elections have consequences.

The NBA before Bird and Magic was pathetic carny bullshit where Red Auerbach fleeced a bunch of half-interested drunks into trading him whatever he needed. Everyone hated David Stern by the end because he didn't fight racism enough, but he brought so much professionalism and marketing muscle to the league while of course getting extremely fortunate with the influx of talent.

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I preferred 80's basketball more. Deeper teams with multiple stars on them. Expansion hurt the NBA tremendously relative to that. I also didn't like the transition to the slower paced game either. Games became grudge matches more often than not. Lastly relates to style of play.

90's NBA helped usher in "hero ball". Guys like Kobe, Iverson, Vince, McGrady, Franchise, etc all came along during this pd. At different intervals you can sort of see where entire teams were built around them as individual talents. You'd be hard pressed to find a second star to play alongside them and it seemed as if they preferred it that way. I think that is the reason that Kobe wanted Shaq gone. I think Jordan had a lot to do that particular style of play as well.

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This guy gets it. The modern NBA sucks.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Modern NBA is all good with me.

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I'm not a big fan of modern NBA, and I can't for the life of me figure out its explosion in popularity. Celtics came back the other day against the 76ers by chucking up a bunch of 3s and the Sixers playing horrible defense and horrible ball handling. That game to me was a reflection of current NBA. Shooting 3s, not playing defense and horrible mental mistakes. Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the top 10 players in the playoffs was extremely underwhelming. Maybe not a reflection of his play or not. I don't know. The Rapotors playing like shit, the Blazers playing like shit. Are people really enjoying this? I feel like I'm only watching the Playoffs BECAUSE of the past. The best series so far was the Pacers and Cavs and I don't think anything else will come to close to it the rest of the playoffs.