@@connorkinsley1810I defended so many old players from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, yet this take from Oakley is so egregious, the dude is literally a slightly smaller, but better ball handling version of David Robinson and he dared to say the guy is a bench player wtf, and I'm not sure what to make T-mac's opinion of Giannis either
@@sebastianleung2897 right?!?! I try to take in consideration of what skill level during that time vs now. During his prime and whenever he made all star, he average 2-4 points less than pippen. Pippen was a number 2 guy in the team. Like he acts like he would be a star player in this Era.
This is the reason Joel Embiid is so underrated. Not only would he have dominated in the 90s, his game is so well rounded, he would be great in any decade.
Yeah, like who tf is snatching Giannis out of the air or stopping him in transition? He’s strong, fast, and athletic. The man is literally built for physical play. Not to mention that he’s gradually improving his midrange and 3 point shot. God, people gotta stop with this BS that the 90s was sooo physical compared to other eras. It’s gotten so bad that people actually believe freaks of nature like Giannis or Lebron wouldn’t still dominate or thrive
@@OnTh3Mov3 I don’t know about “easily.” Giannis and Shaq are about the same size. It wasn’t until the early late 90s and early 2000s where shaq picked up a considerable amount of weight
@@loudthebest7546 Prime Orlando Shaq had Giannis by about 75-100 pounds… and that’s before he beefed up. Not to mention going up against a Dream, Mutombo, Robinson, Duncan, Mourning, Ewing, Rodman etc etc… Every single one of these teams was built to stop Giannis and with him not being able to dish out to great 3pt shooting they would all attack him and either force him outta the paint where he would build a brick house or let him give it up to other scorers which they would live with… and if he decided to just try n bully his way through everyone they would get an enforcer to get thrown out breaking him down. Again Shaq had to deal with the same shit nightly but he was much much much bigger than Giannis even before LA
@@markblue6464 I was raised in the old school and he’s nothing special in my opinion. Would just be another guy. Overhyped him too much in college when he was the biggest dude
9 months late but y’all forget mutumbo exists? Mans had zero offense but was high value for his ability to lock the paint. With out bigs being able to space the floor Rudy would thrive
@@rastafarri4953 I didn’t forget them, they all had defining offensive moves where as mutombo didn’t which is why I brought him up as a comparison for gobert as he’s a rebounding defensive anchor with a limited offensive game like mutombo
this is the most talented era of basketball we have seen thus far. it seems like anyone at any minute can go off regardless of their position on the team.
I'm surprised yall didn't mention Ben, he's an amazing defender and 1 of the only knocks against him is his jumper, teams would've been fine sending him to the paint to dunk it.
Other than the obvious answers, I feel like Drummond would have been insane at that time. He would be seen as the second coming of Bill Russell getting 20 points and 20 rebound games.
DeRozan is a perfect example. He would fit the slashing style of guard play in the 90’s. Imagine him setting up one on one iso plays and defenders can’t zone him off because of the 90’s illegal defense rules. People would be calling him the GOAT.
Only reason I don’t think he would be GOAT status would be the mentality, his mentality seems to get really weak in the playoffs. But he’d def be top 5 for sure.
He would be a star but no where near the goat. So many good players in the 90s that are so much better than derozen. You guys clearly haven’t watched much of the game
Embiid is good but he might be the biggest flopper in the NBA he is constantly at the free throw line. Plus he's pretty injury prone even in this soft league
Unpopular opinion: Boban Hear me out. If he had the stamina/conditioning he'd be a great player. He's good in today's NBA in short spurts. Games in the 90s were slower paced so it would allow him to play longer. I just wanted a unique answer.
People don’t watch NBA enough, 90’s centers are elite! Imagine Gobert playing against Shaq, Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson and Mourning? I don’t think he is better than them!
There are plenty that wouldn't thrive, KD might dominate for 20 games averaging 35/6/7, but he ain't surviving a full season with his twiggy build. He would keep getting injured. Also there's just players that don't fit the 90s bball style and would be roleplayers or 6th men like Harden, Trae, Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Donovan Mitchell...etc. Everybody that focuses on shooting, foul baiting and doesn't focus on physicality would downgrade. Keep in mind Steph wouldn't cause a 3pt revolution in the 90s.
@@kristijanEX you crazy if you think harden or curry wouldn’t dominate. They would avg dam near 40. 90’s players couldn’t handle the prototype players like iverson or grant hill. What would they do vs a league full of iverson sand grant hills. They wouldn’t be able to stay in front of any of these guys. Plus the ability to dribble and hit 3’s would have them shook. Imagine could harden so much and sending him to the like 10 times. Dude would put up 40 a game
@@kristijanEX bro with all due respect steph, harden and kd would be God's back then. No zone defense, just man to man? Whose guarding curry? Whose handling a big guy like harden who can drive down the lane and shoot threes, pass and cross you up. Man to man hes unstoppable. Kd is another great player for that era. Great mid range, great defense and tough to guard. He would shoot over most guys like its nothing. Frail or not hed play against sf so they won't be any bigger than today's guys. Plus kd literally has a move to counter handchecking and get him free throws all game. Lastly funny how you mention foul bating when mj himself was a master of getting to the line himself
@@jonwifebeaterjones6389 Steph Curry would be another Mahmoud Rauf, maybe a bit more successful since he wouldn't get blackballed by the league, but not a superstar unless he triggers the 3 point revolution early. Which I doubt since he wouldn't shoot that many threes back then. As for Harden, he's getting less calls back then and also we've seen how his ppg drops when a bit more physical rules are introduced. Remember the rule change at the start of the season ? It expposed Harden. Harden back in the day would be a Walmart Clyde Drexler, he plays no defense. I agree that KD would dominate back then, but his foul baiting wouldn't work like it did in the 2010s, he'd still average 35 for a season, but he would be injured all the time, Charles Barkley lands on KD, he done for the season.
yeah he’d be a more mobile Hakeem with worse defense and footwork but a way better shooter he would literally blow up any of the 90’s defense with his smooth pull up game and spacing you simply wouldn’t be able to put more than 2-3 bigs on him in that era that could stay with him on the perimeter
No, a few just don't fit the physical game that was played. Just as a lot of the guys from them don't translate to today's game. Shot blocking bigs are almost non existent. Gobert would have been a perineal all-star.
Drummond straight trash. Every starting big in the 90s would be a better defender than him, more skilled post moves, better touch around the rim, better mid range
Maybe cp3 bc he’d be the equivalent of John Stockton and maybe Ben Simmons bc first he doesn’t rly need to be a shooter he’s a good passer and he’s tall he’d be like magic Johnson except a bit worse of a shooter
Lots of people gotta watch 90s ball rather than just listening to what old heads say about the 90s. Giannis would be a great player. Physical play is his game.
Most of today's bigs learned how to deal with the floor stretchers and the best ball handlers and the fastet player anyone of today's bigs can lock up mj for my perspective
@@AbsoleteAim reggie was 6'7", not 6'3", and didn't shoot that many 3s, curry would have less space and harder shots, and idk if coaches would let him do his thing at the PG position
With zone defense being banned until 01, I think a large chunk of todays stars would flourish in the 90s. The floor ends up being more spaced out. Logically it makes sense that current players that built their skills off of what was shown by the stars of the 90s would thrive if we plucked em from today into back then. Ppl would shit they selves at guys that define positionless basketball like Embiid.
The same Rudy get bodied by Terence Mann. Imagine what would happen when he matches up with Shaq Hakeem David Robinson Ewing or when he has to play against attacking guards like MJ and Drexler
@@hesomelo5910 people love bringing up the Terrace Man game but I guarantee you if you rewatch the game rn, you’ll realize how much of it wasn’t his fault
Draymond would be laughed at in that era. The badboys would just ran thru him, past centers would not let green kick them in the nuts they will beat the shit out of green
Draymond green grew up in the streets of saginaw Michigan where you had to fight and claw your way up. He played for Tom Izzo. Jerry west picked him as a wild card for the 75 ultimate draft. Put some respect on his name.
Zion and Giannis for sure. Jokic would probably be like Bill Walton. I'd think Westbrook would be great since he wouldn't be expected to shoot as much and would be hard to defend bc of his speed. D Rose too
@@raphaelfeltman8608 he doesn't rely on free throws though, which power forward from the 90s would be quick and strong enough to defend him? He would euro step past them
@@raphaelfeltman8608 my brother in christ, Karl Malone was not known as a defensive stopper. If they had issues with Larry Johnson and Charles Barkley in the 90s, how do you think they would defend a guy who is more skilled and faster than those guys? He would be a nightmare matchup
The current answer is Giannis easily. Arguably the most physical offensive player in the NBA willing to drive from anywhere through anyone to get to the hole. He’d be amazing especially at 6’11
I think tho being a very physical era curry could have played the Steve Kerr roll for certain teams. He’s shooting abilitys would have helped some teams so much
Nah Giannis would have it worse in the 90s. He benefits from a current nba that doesnt let defence play physical, not many real centers and is foul heavy. Gobert was a good take tho
The thing about Giannis in the 90s is that Giannis thrives in large part due to spacing. He doesn't really have a traditional post game to speak of. In a league where that spacing doesn't exist (like the 90s) he'd have more (& bigger) bodies to go through.
@John Smith I mean, he wouldn`t need to be LeBron has tons of records, and if simply ring counting is what we`re doing then Bill Russell is the Goat and not MJ
Hot take: Giannis would be tip 5 all time if he was in the 90s. Borderline unstoppable in the paint, offense focused in mid-range so his defence will automatically level up, add on a good 3 bomb and Giannis would literally be a ripped KD before KD.
