During his 15 NBA seasons Step Curry has a career .426 completion percentage average from three-point land - (Keith Allison - photo)

Step Curry's mom thought he was too puny to play in the NBA. He weaponized his skills to survive. The result is… HE CHANGED THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED! - ( NBA Photo)

During James Harden's matador swatting away the non-aggressive opponents days he was shooting 10 to 15 fouls a game. Now with some defense being played he's usually down to around 5-6 foul shots per game - (Keith Allison - photo)

Then Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan had to plan how to deal with the Detroit Pistons BAD BOY'S HIT SQUAD MICHAEL JORDAN'S TOUGHEST OPPONENT

At 37 Lionel Messi continues to amaze - (Hossein Zohrevand photo) MESSI MAGIC - BUILDING A FRANCHISE

NBA ALL-STAR Jayson Tatum = at # 3 overall = the right choice - (Erik Drost photo) CELTICS have the Right Stuff?

For those in the know the former LA/Minneapolis Lakers great Elgin Baylor is the best pound for pound NBA player ever. Better Than Jordan? ELGIN BAYLOR!!!

NBA Hall of Fame player Bob Pettit was as tough as they come. Not only could he score but he demanded respect in the lane and a blast from his cast could make you a believer. There was no SISSY BALL during the Pettit era - (The Sporting News Archives - photo) NBA's NEW SISSY BALL ERA

Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden Date 30 May 1985 - Steve Lipofsky www.Basketballphoto.com ALL TIME NBA 1st TEAM - BREAKING IT DOWN

SPORTS NOTES - NBA DILEMMA… IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The NBA has drawn attention for all the wrong reasons. The consensus is the game has changed and is poor in quality. There are reasons why. The league must bear the responsibility. It has made changes to make the game more of an entertainment product. In the process they have made an abortion of a game that didn't need fixing - THIS DAY IN THE NBA - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Thursday January 23, 2025

CHANGES FOR THE BAD

Oh please… what's up wit dat? The NBA is drawing a lot of complaints that their product is poor. The reality is those complaints have merit. The quality of the game from our standpoint began to decline when the cry went out to PROTECT THE PLAYERS.

That concern coincides with the arrival of the then 18-year-old phenom LeBron James. Fresh out of high school James went out and had a solid rookie season posting 20 point per game (ppg.). At that point we lost control of the availability of NBA telecasts.

Roughly 20 years later we relocated to a cable system that carried the games. What we saw was astonishing. James Harden was driving down the lane without anyone trying t stop him. I said WHAT!!!! I was so angry I thought about jumping through the TV screen and kicking Harden's @$$. Then... reality set in and I regained control of my senses.

The more games I saw the more I was shocked to see how the game changed. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it best, "They've taken defense out of the game."

Well, that was a succinct statement from one who has had more of an in-depth hands-on experience of witnessing the abortion of the NBA game that has been in progress for over 20 years.

The other shocker was seeing a player stepping across mid court, taking an inbounds pass. He then took two giant steps (hop & skip) towards the basket and dunked the ball ... WITHOUT TAKING A DRIBBLE! Traveling? No…. ENTERTAINMENT… YES!

The guilty party is Jeff Green, currently with the Houston Rockets. Now this guy is almost 100 years old but in LeBron James' world he's only 38. At the time of witnessing his violation was four years ago when he was with the Brooklyn Nets. Apparently, age has nothing to do with committing a crime in the abortion of the NBA game.

When Harden was running through the lane untouched, he was also with the Houston Rockets and that was ages ago. It seems Harden wants to play with every NBA team before his career is through.

One point being that he is slowing down with age and the now there's a more aggressive effort to put defense back into the game that perhaps is problematic in his driving down the lane attempts. Players now are allowed to touch each other without being interned at the NBA jail.

During his matador swatting away the non-aggressive opponents days he was shooting 10 to 15 fouls a game. Now with some defense being played he's usually down to around 5-6 foul shots per game.

In a TV interview with three dominate stars representing teams from Minneapolis current Timberwolves phenom Anthony Edwards was boasting about how he would drive down the lane against NBA teams in a previous era. Former Timberwolves forward/center Kevin Garnett said yea, and you would have gotten your nose broke.

Even the precious LeBron James related what he recalled about Dikembe Mutombo, after Mutombo passed away. He noted that Dikembe broke his nose.

To borrow a line from Nick Nolte in the film U-Turn, "Aw shucks that ain't nothin."

Well now I guess James didn't 'get a total free pass from the previous era veterans when the league gave him an anointed sacred status.

The question is when will the NBA return to respecting a game that has grown over the years and improved with more skilled and talented players? Thanks to improved gymnasium technology it helps players today to be stronger and more athletic than the players during Boston Celtics reign of the 60's.

Since the NBA established the slam dunk and 3-point competitions in the All-Star game, it also has had a drastic negative influence on the games during the regular season.

Many former era players watch in disgust the behaviors and many comment about their attitude changes and how they play the game. Their usual comment to express their opinion starts a sentence with, the way they play the game today…

The consensus is all they do today is when they take the ball they step back and take a 3-point shot.

And that brings us to another point. Some of the games changes are brought about from skill while others are assisted by the league.

In the 3-point issue the guilty person is Stepp Curry. Should we find a person that was, in his mother's opinion, too puny to play in the NBA guilty of setting off this current trend?

Being a slender, fuzzy faced, underweight individual when he was drafted seventh overall in the 2009 NBA draft. Curry found a way not only to survive… but excel.

If there was one person that changed the game it is Stepp Curry. He accomplished something unique that changed the shape of the NBA game from the inside lane dominated by huge centers and big men to shoot from the outside for a 3-pointer. Today most everyone is trying to achieve credibility with their 3-point shooting. The problem is… there is ONLY ONE STEP CURRY!

Should he go to jail or receive an award for his crimes or be awarded for his achievements? We say let him be a free man and be rewarded for changing the game because he had to develop a skill in order to survive. He is the NBA's Django UNCHAINED.

Curry has grown into a more developed, grizzly old 36-year-old man. He has slowed down a lot and coach Kerr is trying to salvage his energy for key moments.

During his 15 NBA seasons Curry has a career .426 completion percentage average from three-point land.

The 3-point shot is currently dominating the game. It's not unusual to see stats where teams are taking of their 100 shots in a game, 50 being 3-point attempts.

The influence is contagious. Recently we watched an Asian B League game where 78 three-point shots were taken to only 27 two-point attempts by only one team.

As for James, his record setting achievements should have an asterisk* beside them. It should note that his achievements were during the SISSY BALL you can't touch this ERA.

But James has achieved one thing that in my 74 years of watching the league no other player has accomplished. That is his superior physical conditioning. At the 40-year-old mark he is a raging bull currently playing 35 minutes a game.

He can still shoot hitting 51.1 % of 2-point attempts and 39.5 % from the three-point line. He hasn't changed the game like Curry did with his skill but… whatever he's doing to remain in such top condition he should sell it.

GAME CHANGE SUGGESTIONS:

Make a rule where a team can only take 30 three-point shots a game. This will create more strategy. A shot clock can be doubled in two sections where one side is about 3-point shots taken and the other being the 24 second clock.

NEXT: THE NBA ALL STAR GAME ABORTION

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

January 23, 1959 In the NBA All-Star Game in Detroit, St. Louis’ Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor of Minneapolis became the first co-winners of the MVP award as their West team won 124-108.

January 23, 1980 George Gervin of San Antonio scored 55 points in a 144-130 Spurs’ victory over the Pacers in Indianapolis.

January 23, 1992 Houston’s Otis Thorpe became the 10th player in NBA history to play in 500 consecutive games, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the Rockets’ 109-96 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at The Summit.

January 23, 1998 Denver tied the single-season record of 23 consecutive losses set by the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995-96. The streak halted with a 99-81 win the next day vs. the Los Angeles Clippers.

January 23, 1998 Michael Jordan scored in double figures for the 800th consecutive game in a 100-98 OT win over New Jersey. Jordan would add 40 more double-figure scoring games to his NBA record before retiring for the second time at the end of the 1997-98 season.

January 23, 2000 Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson becomes the sixth coach in NBA history to win 900 career games when the Mavericks defeat the Detroit Pistons 99-91 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.