NBA Basketball Desperately Needs a Magic/Bird Feud, Another Michael Jordan Would Be Nice as Well

The rivalries were intense and numerous. Professional basketball had not been soiled by salaries that were out of control, 18 year old project players littering every roster, and players and fans partaking in fisticuffs amidst flying popcorn and a downpour of arena Pepsi. Yes, the contemporary state of NBA basketball is the polar opposite of NBA basketball circa 1980's and early 90's when the NBA was truly a pleasure to watch.

Sure, there are players who are the exception. While I feel Tim Duncan is very much a throwback to those days in terms of class and respect for the game of basketball, and while I have a deep appreciation for the path that LeBron James is on, most of the league is the furthest thing from throwback. That is, unless you are referring to the current product as a rotting fish that we would all love to "throw back".

The NBA no longer possesses the midrange jump shot, nor the wealth of dominant post men that made the big man every bit as marquee as that flashy forward driving the baseline. No, there are no "hard hats" the likes of Jabbar, Moses Malone, Robert Parrish, Bill Lanier, or Hakeem Olajuwon; the type of men who made post play as sexy as the perimeter. Simply put, men who brought their lunch pail every night.

What are we left with now that we are saddled with today's version of NBA basketball? Basicly we are left with nothing but a crap product that has been on the steady decline for quite a while now. Sadly, NBA Commissioner, David Stern, oversees a league that shows no true signs of pulling out of the funk that currently befouls professional basketball.

Speaking of influential Sterns, perhaps HOWARD Stern, essentially single-handedly responsible for advancing Sanjaya Malakar far deeper into American Idol than the young crooner deserved, could lend an assist to this train wreck known as the NBA.