The Golden Era: My Forgotten Time Rant

So I am sitting here in beautiful Lorton, VA (Suburb to D.C.) and it's 6:30 in the morning. I turn it to the NBA channel and in the middle of their typical coverage of post game analysis they air a special clip saluting the great Oscar Robertson. The Big"O". The only person in NBA history to ever average a triple double (30.8 ppg/12.5 rebounds/11.4 assists). The special which had Chris Webber narrating, discusses the many high points of an illustrious career that included leading the first All African American team to a Indiana state championship and 2 NBA titles. The special alluded to the era he played in which included Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jerry West and many others. Then of course they moved to the comparison between the current generation and his generation. Robinson pondered and asked who in this generation would be able to deal with the physical play of yesteryear…He wondered why so many people love seeing the LA Clippers play and create above the rim magic, but so few respect the steady greatness of the San Antonio Spurs and Timmy D.

All of that got me to thinking, have we reached the point where people will start to forget about Lew Alcindor's college dominance, Wilt Chamberlain's insane rebounding and scoring numbers (1961/62 he averaged 50 ppg and 20 plus rebounds), Bill Russell's defense first Celtics, The Big O's skill and the beauty that was Earl "The Pearl" Monroe? 10 years ago in the early years of the NBA network and back when ESPN Classic was a more respected network you couldn't go more than 3 days without seeing some of the great games from the 1960's and 70's. Nowadays its all Magic, Bird, Jordan and Dream. Not that those are bad things, but is that really the new "Old School" and if it is, then why are we neglecting the "Golden Era"?

If not for the well rounded game of Oscar, you don't get Magic or LeBron. If not for the razzle dazzle of Bob Cousy and Nate "Tiny"Archibald, then we don't get John Stockton or Tony Parker. If not for Wilt, Kareem and Russell, then we don't get Dream, Shaq or Duncan. Losing touch with where the game once was takes away perspective and robs the game of it's integrity. How can we cherish the current greatness of Durant, Harden, Bryant, Wade and many others without praising Maravich, Goodrich, Barry and Unseld? The game evolved with Jordan, but it didn't begin with him and the interesting thing is he would be the first to admit that. I find it highly unlikely that Julius Randle, Marcus Smart or heck even Andre Drummond can name 10 great players prior to 1979. Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker get a pass because their fathers played pro ball, so its likely they are aware, but that's two out of however many D-1 college ball players are currently active.

The current generation of superstar from the Pro's on down to the local public high school league's needs to learn and remember the game. 20 years from now, my son will have a pure understanding of the game and how far it's come. I surely hope that his peers will also know that the game existed prior to the 80's, for all of our sake.

The Draft Fanatic.