The NBA has lost its luster

I'm sure you all have noticed already, but in case you haven't, the NBA is not even close to what it used to be. I really can't go way back to the sixties, but the seventies, eighties, and nineties still come to mind as the great days of the NBA for me. I enjoyed Wilt Chamberlain and Lew Alcindor when I was very young. The Milwaukee Bucks were a powerhouse back then, which brought back the memories watching the Bucks of 2001 make their run. But being a young boy at the time, I don't have quite the memory of the NBA back then.

When I think of the glory days of the NBA, I think of the Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas eras. These guys played against each other like it was a life or death thing. But they had a great respect for each one's game that I don't see today. Players today take verbal shots at their opponents or their cities with no regard to respecting their adversaries.

Back in the days of Bird and Magic, fans either loved the Boston Celtics or hated them. Personally, I hated them. But that made me watch all the games with more emotion than I do now. I just don't see the rivalry that the Lakers and the Celtics had in the game right now. When the fans love some teams and hate others, it sure makes for a great playoff series. But when the fans don't really care who wins, the state of the game could not be in worse shape.

As I watched the Lakers win their second consecutive title, I really felt nothing. When the team was interviewed in some area of the arena after the game, even the players seemed almost emotionless. Not only that, Kobe Bryant wasn't even in the area with all of his teammates when they were interviewed and the MVP trophy was given away. It wasn't exactly the same as watching Michael Jordan take the basketball, run into the locker room and start crying on the floor. I didn't even root for the Chicago Bulls ever, but I did feel for Jordan at that moment.

The Detroit Pistons two championships were the highlight for me in NBA history. I will never forget the Bad Boys and how they bullied and intimidated their opponents into submission. Even when they lost to the Bulls the next year in the playoffs and most Pistons would not congratulate the Bulls on their win, I was proud of them. I would not have shaken any hands either. The rivalry was too intense to give in at that particular time.

Watching Jordan play in the nineties will probably be the greatest time in NBA history. There was no one more dominant, in my opinion, in the history of the NBA. He really had no one around him. Scottie Pippin was a good player, but we all saw what he did without his Batman. He did not win without Jordan and really showed that he is not a leader in Portland. Jordan's other teammates have done nothing since playing with him except be role players. Jordan was a pleasure to watch. His competitiveness and athleticism were something that the NBA may never see again. Furthermore, this is coming from a guy who did not like the Bulls.

Certainly, I hope that the NBA comes back to what it was in the eighties and nineties. But I don't see it happening. With high schoolers coming in at every draft, there is little chance of the will to win being as strong as it was. Why? There is usually only one reason that these guys want to skip college and go to the NBA -- money. When they just look at the cash, the money in their pockets makes them less hungry. Bird, Magic, Jordan, and Thomas had the competitive spirit that I have rarely seen in the NBA. They lived and died with the wins and losses. I just don't see it right now, and it doesn't look like it will change in the near future. Hopefully, I am wrong.