Last week LeBron James talked about getting the NBA back to the way it was in the 80's, a great, less watered down NBA. The teams of the 80's has 3 or 4 superstars on each team and it made nearly every team exciting to watch. James attributes the better time to having less teams, and stated that the NBA would be better if it contracted. He mentioned the Nets and T-Wolves has teams that could be dropped. His comments caused quite a stir, but the big picture is that LeBron James is missing the big picture.
First off, the 80's were not much different than today. The same few teams were at the top of the divisions then just like now. The Finals were dominated by the Lakers and Celtics with the two combining to win 8 titles from 79-89. The two other teams to win were the Sixers and Pistons. Something similar happened this past decade except with the Lakers and Spurs. The only difference between then and now was that less teams missed the playoffs because the League was smaller.
When you compare decades, you have to consider all things involved, not just one. LeBron basically said the 80's were better because the League was smaller and it resulted in more powerhouse teams with elite players. Well alright, that was a small part of it. The 80's also had more elite players than today. I found a list of the top 50 players from the 80's and players like Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and Clyde Drexler didn't even crack the top 25. Of course the list was some guy's opinion, but it just goes to show that there were so many good players in the NBA in the 80's that he ranked Ewing 40th, Malone 32nd, and Drexler 26th.
The players of the 80's were not making millions of dollars to play either like players are today. It's a lot easier to put stars on the same team when they don't cost 15 million dollars a year. To what money into perspective, Larry Bird, best player of the 80's, made about 26 million throughout his entire career with the Celtics. James, arguably best player of the present, made 16 million last year alone with the Cavs. A lot of sacrifices have to be made in today's NBA if you want to build a super trio, and the Heat demonstrated this with James, Dewayne Wade, and Chris Bosh all taking less than their max.
In conclusion, lowering salaries would probably be the best option to better the NBA, not contracting. LeBron James being a player though, he wouldn't dare talk about cutting salary, and so he offered up contraction instead. When you talk about bettering anything, your going to get different options depending on where the person stands in the situation. As a star player, James said contraction because he will always have a job. An average player might say limit the number of star players on a team so that average to decent players could get a chance. As a fan, I said cut salary. A scout or coach might say let younger players come to the League faster. In the end, it will only matter what Commissioner David Stern thinks will make the League better, and he certainly knows what the big picture is.
References
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/news/story?id=5952952
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1980finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1981finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1982finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1983finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1984finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1985finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1986finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1987finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1988finaldiv.htm
http://www.shrpsports.com/nba/stand/1989finaldiv.htm
http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/lofiversion/index.php?t56180.html
http://my.nba.com/go/thread/view/81689/22589581/Larry_Birds_Salary.....
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.html
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