I believe that the NBA is a progressive league. That players get better over time because of improvements in technology, in diet and workout regime. Today’s players have access via dvd to every single game that Michael Jordan played. Whereas Jordan was the first to hire a chef to cook his meals, this type of thing is now common place. The reason that FG% has gone down over time is not because people are poorer shooters but because defenders are so much better than they were in the eighties. So with that said I’d take Lebron, Dirk, Kobe, T-Mac, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Stoudamire, AI, and Jason Kidd…and I think these guys would win.

Shooting from the field? Nope. Free throws? Nope. Passing? Rebounding? Scoring late? Scoring in bunches? Nope. Lock down defense on smaller guards? Nope. Defense on bigs or same size players? Nope. Clutch Factor? Nope. Ball handling? Don’t see it. Explosiveness? Capturing the moment? Not a chance.

I figure shorty just ran out of stuff to write. Moreover, the suggestion that today’s players are better than those of the Jordan era (not that long ago) is ludicrous. Some of (if not many) of today’s players are more athletic - but among the upper echelon players, I’ll take that 80’s group in a heartbeat.

I’ll take 12 guys: Magic, Bird, MJ, Isiah, Olajuwon, McHale, Worthy, Mo Cheeks (in case your modern day point guard actually thinks he’ll be able to dribble across half court without getting RIPPED), Barkley, Moses Malone, Karl Malone, and Reggie Miller.

The one element of today’s game that is fundamentally different from the 1980’s is the emergence of perimeter bigs…perhaps the prototype of which was Derrick Coleman. But, if you track the # of rings these guys have (as lead dogs pulling the sled), you’ll come up with 1…and that 1 was in the context of heated internal strife on the other team.

This may change after Shaq and Duncan retire, but they’ve EVERY ring save one since the last Bulls run. So, at the highest level of the game, these new fangled players have not proved their worth on the court. The longstanding frustrations of the Sacramento Kings (as Webber’s vehicle - Exhibit A); the Timberwolves (Kevin Garnett - Exhibit B); last year’s crumbled Mavericks - Exhibit C); the Portland Trailblazers led by ‘Sheed - Exhibit D). I could go on and on. (I maintain that the ‘04 Pistons were able to DESTROY that Laker squad because the Lakers played mostly 1 against 5…and the better team won handily).

The game of hoops isn’t all that complex - even when it is.