How The NBA Became Soft

The NBA today is so soft
It's definitely not all the players but it seems like there’s a growing number of spoiled brat superstars.
Players who run from competition, would rather team up, and care more about their appearance than actual performance.
The NBA Has Become Soft
Don’t believe me?
Check out this video
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[@brianoconner3090]

Softest players era I have ever seen but have the guts to demand huge salaries.

[@mrmarkjoseph]

Soft and BORING… all you have to do is to shoot 3 points consistently to win 😅. There is no thrill and angst.

[@Ceerie7133]

Curry ?

[@101noz101]

Flopping is still a massive problem. Marcus Smart flailing to the ground anytime he's close to another player is embarrassing. I would like to see suspensions for egregious flopping.

[@problemsnearyou3863]

If I saw a player suspended for a series for flopping, I bet no one will ever flop again . They’d know what they would be risking

[@jaypsgamingworld1273]

I’d add Kyle Lowry to that list

[@TheJusDon]

@@problemsnearyou3863 flopping should be considered a personal foul 😂💯💯💯

[@riddlemehuh]

@@problemsnearyou3863 so dumb be better

[@riddlemehuh]

@@jaypsgamingworld1273 and you'll be dumb

[@jedsteelwell2354]

I disagree that the league became more fun to watch. It's pretty boring to me. I liked big guys banging and the fighting! I liked rivalry and guys hating each other instead of joining each other. I watch more old-school stuff on KZbin than today's basketball

[@MerkhVision]

“I liked big guys banging” Lmfao pause

[@subzerofromny735]

In other words you like the malice at the palace where fans get to attack the players and get away with it

[@Thiago-vk8kx]

​@@subzerofromny735all extremes are bad, but today NBA is protecting so much their player that's impossible to play defensibly

[@zack1610]

The biggest thing making the NBA soft is the refs. Everything is a technical foul even staring at someone wrong gets you a fine. Hell I’ve seen players celebrating on the bench get T’ed up. The other thing that needs to stop is the foul calls when 2 players lightly bump into each other. The constant stop in play ruins the game

[@legendarywiimaster]

If the refs were people who were qualified then the NBA would be better

[@Reefer-Rampage69]

The refs need to be fired they are horrendous and that’s an understatement. Go look at what Fred VanVleet just said and Giannis this week

[@Nick-7]

Allowing the players to carry/travel at will makes the league soft too

[@MerkhVision]

Very true. The refs are way too whistle happy. Although that’s just the regular season, in the playoffs they let them play through contact a lot more which makes for more entertaining games with better flow.

[@MerkhVision]

Although one of the reasons some players exaggerate contact and flop/flail is because the refs often miss legitimate fouls and they feel they have to embellish to get the refs to notice cuz it’s the only way to get the fouls they deserve, so that problem is also partly the fault of the refs.

[@sonicaffairband]

3:41 “The game became more fun to watch.” Says who? It’s so boring now. If you can’t play defense what’s the point? You’re gonna out score the opponent every game?

[@subzerofromny735]

So punching people in the face like what draymond did to nurkic and how Rudy tomjanovich got hit so hard he tasted spinal fluid is what you call playing defense?

[@jbug1979]

the number of contenders is a really interesting metric for a graph to determine the NBA is going soft. i wouldn't have thought of that! i like that out of box thinking..

[@HenryHoops]

Thanks! Hopefully I framed the video in an interesting way. It was a way more difficult topic to research and come with answers than I expected

[@dagheinen2129]

Bro saying “in 2001” before showing the Rudy gobert fight had me confused for a sec😂

[@Mouchoo]

people don't seem to realize that the more "modern" things become, the more "soft" everyone & everything will be

[@ceeal2943]

Everybody who says todays NBA is more fun to watch is wrong and has probably never watched a game from the 80s or 90s

[@David.Fit21]

the scoring of nba star lowered when hand check/illegal defence was removed because YEAH hand check but when illega defecnce was removed you could double team freely and triple team/double team over the foul line so that made it harder

[@MerkhVision]

But the prevalence of good 3 point shooters made up for that and scoring is at an all time high now.

[@elton23]

Just rewatched this a year later...The Dame & Giannis line didn't age well, and it's only been a year! And KD Gone to PHX now. Hahahahaaa

[@0pticfinxifie418]

The end was so funny he was like Ben simmons you umm nvm😂

[@MrIlleism]

Marketing dollars rule sports in general. If you sign a big contract, get injured and can't play ≈ no good deals. I miss the old era of rivalry and physicality.

[@bloodline_NZL]

The KD staying with the nets made me laugh.

[@notrelentless1630]

That’s why he said, “for now”😂

[@LostInMySauce]

Idk if it’s true or not but the LeBron one they talked about Le1stSon and said he was dead and were sending death threats

[@jamesdunnjr.2518]

Now dame up and ran from the grind lol

[@kennethjones7129]

Rudy in the league in 2001???! Huuuh 😂😂

[@Auriss24]

the crazy amount of money making them soft

[@SemajRaff]

9:09 Lmao

[@jaym1995]

Too friendly to each other

[@yandhi_6382]

The thumbnail is crazy 😭

[@butler754]

NBA is soft with no heart

[@Landfall364]

"Superstars like Giannis and Damian Lillard have shown they aren't running from the grind." Meanwhile Giannis: "Get me some help or I am running from the grind." Meanwhile Damian: 🦌🏃‍♂💨

[@HenryHoops]

LOL true! What the heck DAME you're ruining my video

[@Landfall364]

@@HenryHoops Yeah, hindsight's 20/20. Just funny to look back on. Was true at the time at least!

[@morrisparrish76]

Only people named allen Dixon think the NBA isn’t soft!

[@unknownsword9042]

No, they won't say those guys had it tough. No one today thinks that 2000 players had it tough compared to 80s players. The thing about television is it is all recorded. Then new generations can see the hard physical plays of yesteryear. They aren't just listening to old granddad's stories.

[@chadchesney3858]

It’s called inflation and globalization. That’s what has made the nba and everything else more profitable. But you’re crazy if you think today’s nba is more popular than the 1990’s in this country. More popular globally 🤔 maybe. More profitable, sure. But the late 90’s Bulls and MJ. It’s all been downhill since then. Except on the balance sheets apparently.

[@bscoeryan]

Cotton candy player...

[@chrisschaeffer9661]

Durant hasnt left Brooklyn...yet

[@scottflipiak614]

Reggie Miller had Retired, because The League was becoming Immature . . . . . Due to The New NBA Rules

[@ceeal2943]

The NBA officials especially this comissioner should change the rules. More defense, less 3s and get rid of this f'n sponsoring on the jerseys

[@miles24yo]

2001? 2:45

[@RandomPau]

Yah, when Rudy Gobert was 9 and Myles Turner was 5 years old.

[@boblester8641]

What would happen if all owners decided to pull money out of sports

[@CristianoMatos08]

They're learning with soccer players

[@mickeymcbuckets623]

Gotta review your videos and facts before posting… I’m sure Myles Turner wasn’t in the league in 2001

[@BTbass68]

I remember when men played in the NBA

[@AimeeGirl]

Back then, not all, but more players that were at least good, remained with the team that drafted them, and retired with them, kinda a sign of team loyalty. Now look at the league now. Players want to form their own super teams just to get the hardware. It's not like they were traded to benefit all the teams involved. And sometimes is a selfish greed for money. As good as LeBron is, you'd think no owner would want to trade him. It's like the players demand trades or will hold out. Even in other sports, like NFL, OBJ only wants to sign one year deals with contenders. Next year, he don't care about that team. He just wants to "buy" championships.

[@Reefer-Rampage69]

This didn’t age well 😂😂. There’s more bad calls and technical fouls this yeah than before. Players getting fined for criticizing the rules and refs too. The players aren’t soft I agree THE NBA IS SOFT

[@leechrec]

NBA so soft like Charmin because of the rules.

[@David.Fit21]

is it soft or its skill bc if it was the final YOU KNOW IT AND I KNOW IT 0:00 if mj got hit like this in the final he would sell it and complain

[@DeAnte_go_crazy]

Broo curry😂 You might be my favorite player but why the hell you going against a damn Small forward who is basically a big guard That can do almost anything while you just a 6’2 PG That can shoot from anywhere got one of the highest arks on your floater But got no defense except perimeter?

[@natz27eris]

It's all LeBron's fault. He started this spoiled superstar thing when he built his superteams.

[@Ingeborga_Dapkunaite]

Man you are trippin. Wilt was not just a crying all-star. He is debatable GOAT even now. There is nothing wrong to change team when you are constantly losing to 5+ HOF)))) In 1996 Barkley was way pass his prime with Clyde and Hakeem, they could barely run and they had no deep team at all. Calling this pension team a superteam is hilarious

[@David.Fit21]

pushing after a wisle is not defence none of that matter a fouls is a fouls

[@RUDIAZTRANS22]

Stfu. The NBA is fucking soft! Haha prime tmac, gilbert arenas, would average 40 ppg in these weak modern NBA

[@mcgiannak]

the players are not softer. They have to play according to the rules. So, from the moment that the coaches ask you to shoot a lot, that is where you should focus, when the rules not allow much contact, you have to adapt to it, when the referees whistle for nothing, flopping should be expected etc. Also, when the profits of the league are skyrocketing, it is obvious that the salaries of the players will too ( basic capitalism), and with it their options, as they become like small franchises. And when the players dont stick to a team for long time, how exactly should rivalries be built? To be honest, I am not sure that if the players back in 80s and 90s had the same opportunities, would not act like the modern players. Now, if someone likes this situation or not, that is an other story, but considering the financial blooming of NBA, it appears that the vast majority of the fans like it that way, so what the older generations think ( myself included) is irrelevant

[@lxbui]

"NBA players have never been more skilled than they are today, and that skill, both for the way scorers are deployed and officiated and the increased space in which they have to operate, has never had a more conducive environment in which to flourish. The numbers we're seeing are a result of that offensive cocktail. Freedom of movement has indeed unlocked the modern scorer, but before jumping to the low-hanging conclusion that point totals are being inflated by more whistles and more free throws, understand that this season there are, on average, 20.5 fouls being called per game. Of the 77 seasons we've seen since the dawn of the NBA, only eight have produced fewer foul calls per game, including last season at 19.3, which was the lowest total ever. I point this out to combat the rhetoric that today's rules have bred soft scorers that, supposedly, couldn't survive in the tougher days of eras gone by. The truth is that free throws were handed out more often back in the day. Just like the supremely skilled scorers we see today, NBA defense has arguably never been better, either. " cbssports writer Botkin

[@mj23goat3]

Back in the 80's-90's guys were driving into the paint among the trees with regularity so it stands to reason that they would get more foul calls back then, as opposed to today when everyone is standing around out at their 3-pt safe space all game. I'm surprised a CBS sportswriter couldn't figure that out.

[@mistaidgaf9166]

Still is soft because the players too

[@David.Fit21]

the money argument is dumb bc thing are more expensive now than they were back than and more fans now just like wilt era could complained that they did not make enough

[@MovieGuy666]

they actually made decent money in the 60's, I think the average salary was 13 grand and that's about 120 grand in 2022 money. Back in the 60's a 3 to 4 bedroom house only cost around 11 grand and most new cars cost about 2600 hundred.

[@David.Fit21]

@@MovieGuy666 that is no way near the 90s Dennis rodman was saying players now get paid alot when he was making more that the 60s and no 100k is referee money

[@David.Fit21]

the larry bird and magic thing is dumb any real hooper know aff the court we firend but on the court be battler look at jordon pool and jj in memphis

[@ronm3945]

They werent friends from the start ... They became friends after they did a commercial together midway through the rivalry and they were akways fierce rivals regardless

[@AR-yp8nh]

League become more fun to watch?😂 maybe for gen Z kids who understand nothing about the game of basketball they just like highlights, the 90' and early 2000 before rules change was the most fun to watch, the game of basketball is played on both side of the field and not just offense and its a TEAM game! Not iso ball which played in the NBA...today NBA is not even basketball it just a shot contest and free drives to the basket so boring to watch, FIBA rules and style of basketball so much better.

[@joelitocaorte9512]

2001?

[@MerkhVision]

Parity and equality/spread of skill and talent across the league has increased in the past few years. That’s a really good thing. The league is more competitive than it’s been for a long time.

[@David.Fit21]

bro you say we soft when mj got mad that someone did not shake his hand lol

[@MovieGuy666]

dude these modern players start crying like little girls when they get a mean tweet.

[@David.Fit21]

@@MovieGuy666 bro mj did it too 😂😂😂 but you just did not see it bc there were less social media Larry bird said the flopping started in the 80s 🤔🤔🤔

[@robbiecomo5953]

Ya cause Jordan got disrespected over the hand shake

[@David.Fit21]

@@robbiecomo5953 wtf how I though mj was the most competitive player of all time. even people be capping saying mj worked the harden hell no Lebron year 20 and Kobe 100% worked more than mj.

[@RUDIAZTRANS22]

We are talking about the fouls dummy and level of play

[@jamalrobinson8321]

All the things you're naming are better things why are you talking about them like they are worse

[@jbb4019]

I dont watch the nba cause it’s soft

[@2016_nba]

3rd?

[@617boston6]

Blame lebron

[@djdiamond0941]

1st

[@HenryHoops]

lets goooo!

[@plainsimple244]

Jordan made the game soft because he couldn't beat Detroit so he needed the league office combined with the politics of the NBA to change the rules putting in the flagrant foul rule for 1990-91 which is two shots at the ball for a foul deemed excessive by refs... over time the NBA eliminated hand-checking after the 1993-94 season and then Jordan came back so you couldn't touch anyone by 1994-95; they eliminated impeding progress...so things became softer and softer and now we have weak-minded basketball.

[@sinan1603]

super true

[@joserijal7520]

And facts

[@RUDIAZTRANS22]

@@joserijal7520 nah the NBA became soft in 2016

[@RUDIAZTRANS22]

Thanks to hand check foul the NBA became soft

[@plainsimple244]

@@RUDIAZTRANS22 That hand-checking foul was instituted in like after the '94 Finals and I loved hand-checking and forearming a dribbler because it separated those who could handle vs. those who could not because it forced the ball handler to develop or change directions or move the ball...so real basketball is hand-checking, bodying someone up, impeding progress, and having your body on people...some guys could play that way others could not, the NBA stopped it because Detroit was beating Jordan; Boston could play that way and win, the Lakers made the adjustment and could play any way but the Bulls could not compete at all... Jordan could play but he couldn't win that way but he could still overcome and succeed but didn't until the NBA put in that flagrant foul rule and the Pistons were injured and the soft era begins. Jordan was a joke as a champion but individually he could hold his own, he just couldn't play chess.

[@evingrindle1929]

The NBA is by no means "soft" in my opinion. It's simply the rules changing, and it's for a good reason. Watch the malice at the palace over again, that would be a terrifying experience for everyone in the arena, complete insanity with everyone at risk of getting punched or something thrown on them. I think that the NBA saw that plus things like the Rudy Tomjanovich situation (the man almost died) and knew something had to be done. It may seem frustrating for those who enjoy seeing players get competitive by going at each other talking trash but what the NBA is trying to do I think is stopping something before it happens. The worst thing that has happened since the league started cracking down on fighting is the Isaiah Stewart-LeBron incident (coincidentally in Detroit...). As for flopping, the NBA is cracking down on fouls because honestly, slapping people and almost punching them isn't defense, that's football. Has the NBA gone too far with calling things that are legally allowed on defense, absolutely, but players shouldn't be faulted for flopping, they're simply taking advantage of certain referees having a trigger whistle.

[@user-tr3de1fr2i]

Less contact ,less defense overall ,players always hurt ,always injured take a look at 90 s players they had less injuries and always had superstars playing in crucial games nowadays the best teams never make the playoffs mostly because the superstars are always ruled out because of injury ,always slowing the game down arguing with refs on every call tho you can't blame them it's to much calls for contact a simple touch a guy driving to the lane 40 miles a hour and if I jump to try block a shot and we make some contact how possibly is that a foul