There once stood a tall, lanky, 6’10’ center for the DePaul University basketball team who was unstoppable on either end of the floor. He towered over the outstretched arms of smaller defenders, easily lofting a series of hooks and finger rolls above the rim and into the basket. As a defender, he loitered in the paint, batting away any layup attempt as if he were facing a group of amateurs. It was as if Superman himself had laced up some sneakers to play a game of pickup. Today, referees would call most of these “blocks” goaltending, but in 1942, just 2 years before being outlawed in 1944, it was George Mikan’s most impressive advantage.
Since the games inception in 1891, The rules of basketball have been changing, for better or worse. These alterations to the rulebook have a direct and pressing impact on statistics measuring performance. Although no one disputes George Mikan’s dominant reign on the sport in the 40’s and 50’s, it would be difficult for any basketball analyst to call him one of the greatest basketball players to ever live.
Interestingly, another giant amongst men, standing at 7’1,’’ shares a similar story, but is frequently included in the GOAT conversation. Wilt Chamberlain played at a time when most of his opponents were not only smaller than him but also outmatched athletically. He boasted an incredible vertical jump and speed to match. As a result, Wilt Chamberlain’s career from a statistical perspective is an anomaly. Many of his records on offense and defense will likely remain untouched forever. In 1962 alone, he averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game. His highly contested 100-point game came in 1962, only 2 years before a new offensive goaltending rule was instituted, banning anyone from touching the ball within the cylinder. Although unfairly matched, Wilt the Stilt deserves his flowers for his countless entries into the NBA record books. However, his statistics too, like George Mikan, cannot be taken at face value given the rule changes that prevent players today from playing the same way as he did.
With the game still evolving through the 70’s and 80’s, making larger scale changes like instituting the 3-point line, and widening the painted area, it’s important to ask when statistics really started to matter in comparison to today’s game.
The installation of the 3-point line to boost point totals and space out the game came in 1979. While it took time to truly make its mark on the game, today it is now a sole offensive tactic for players and teams alike. This year’s Boston Celtics for example, shoot a shade under 42 three-pointers a game, on their way to a record-setting mark. While the strategy is sometimes deemed inefficient, they are an astounding 25 and 0 when shooting 40% or higher from outside the line. Players like Steph Curry, Trae Young, and Dame Lillard have made careers out of hoisting long bombs from the logo.
One could say Wilt dominated because the game let him goaltend. In today’s game, Steph Curry would be nothing without the 3-point line. Right? He led the league in 3-pointers made from 2009 to 2018, shooting just under 44%. Would he be anything more than a solid, score-first point guard if he didn’t have space to operate behind the 3-point line? Additionally, in 2004 when hand-checking was deemed illegal, players like Steph Curry, who built their game on skill rather than physicality gained even more of an offensive advantage. In fact, in the year following this change, scoring across the league shot up over 3 points per game. A star like Stephen Curry would likely have still had an edge even with old-school rules given his incredible accuracy and longevity in the NBA, but other lesser offensive-centric players may not have fared as well.
Now consider today’s defense, where whistles are frequent, tempers are intolerable, and top scorers are protected at all costs. Dennis Rodman, while completely unhinged at times, was arguably one of the best defenders and rebounders the NBA has ever seen. While he did maintain skill and prowess as a defensive stopper and rebounder, his aggressive play and extreme personality would have made it hard for him to stay on the court, especially with his shortcomings on offense. To excel on defense in today’s game means more than just being physical with active hands and quick feet. It involves thinking about how the game is going to be called by the referee crew. The days of a ball handler having an armbar attached to their hip as they bring the ball up the floor, or a courageous driver getting torched by a collection of the Bad Boys Pistons on his way to attempt a layup are long gone. Over the years, “points of emphasis,” have been implemented by the NBA front offices, to not only protect offensive players but also assist in boosting scoring averages. The “rip-through” move (when an offensive player initiates contact with defender’s arms without moving the ball into natural shooting motion) has wavered back and forth since Kevin Durant popularized it in 2011. Now, it is used frequently to bait an overzealous defender and cash in an easy trip to the free-throw line.
The deeper implication of “points of emphasis” is that not only do rule changes impact the value of a player’s statistics, but also drive the perceived value of the game of basketball. In other words, playing at a fast pace, scoring at higher rates, and offensive stars, are way more exciting than an impenetrable defense. As cool as it would be for a basketball junkie like me to watch Jaden McDaniels hold Jayson Tatum to 4 points on 2-16 shooting, it’s not what the NBA wants its’ basketball fans to watch; at least not at this time.
The narrative of “we are done with the 90’s” (or any decade for that matter), is a lackadaisical way of comparing players from different generations. It is not about George Mikan’s feeble competitors, the slow pace of the 90’s, or even how many 3’s a player might average in a season. It is about contextualizing what the game was supposed to look like in that time. And while players’ talents have improved throughout each decade of NBA basketball, rule changes, “points of emphasis” and perception of value have and always will be the driving force in what the statistics truly reveal.
Photo Via the Associated Press
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