George Gervin stands as the rare, retired, modern NBA fan: 'This game is the best that it’s been'
It is so very nice to stumble upon a kindly, retired, soul. Even if George Gervin, still in the skinny, fightin’ trim he showcased during his Hall of Fame playing days, doesn’t exactly come across as Santa Claus-styled “jolly” by way of appearances alone.
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The San Antonio Spurs legend recently talked about the state of the modern NBA in a discussion with USA Today and, shockingly, Gervin actually had plenty of nice things to say about the league he played in for a decade between 1976 and 1986. In opposition to several of his fellow retired counterparts – Gary Payton, Oscar Robertson and Charles Oakley among them – Gervin actually digs the NBA in its current state.
In a vacuum, but also especially in comparison to where the league was when Gervin was fighting for scoring titles after the league absorbed the Spurs from the ABA during America’s bicentennial year. From a chat with AJ Neuharth-Keusch at USA Today:
“This game is global, man. Do these people know where this game started? I’m from the 70s and 80s and we weren’t worldwide,” Gervin told USA TODAY Sports. “My playoff games were tape delayed. To say that this league is not where it should be, to me, being a part of the league, is insane. We’re all over the world, man. The only game that was really all over the world was soccer. Now we’re all over the world competing against soccer. So that tells you a lot, man. We’ve got guys in this league that are from all over the world. When I played, I don’t know if we had anybody from any (other) country.”
(There certainly weren’t many. Internationally-born NBA players have been a part of the league since 1946, but few foreign-born players and certainly no stars abounded in the late 1970s and 1980s. The Netherlands’ Swen Nater, Romanian-born Ernie Grunfeld, Panamanian Rolando Blackman and the French-born Dominique Wilkins stand out, but Gervin did not have an international NBA teammate during his NBA or ABA career outside of Nater.)
In opposition to Payton, Oakley and Robertson, who appear to be unbothered with the idea that they shouldn’t dive too deep into an arena that they haven’t been fully comfortable with since their retirements in 2007, 2004 and 1974, Gervin appears to have a firm grasp on where the league currently sits.
Or, stands. He’s read the papers:
“People have their opinions, man, but I pretty much deal with facts. Factually, this game is the best that it’s been. We look at sponsorship, we look at branding, we look at the television, we look at the new collective bargaining agreement. Come on, man — we’ve come an unbelievable way with this game.”
That’s just the amount of money the league is making, massive pre-cut cable bills that allow for Solomon Hill to make a $11.2 million in 2016-17 (a mark that rivals, if not dwarfs, George Gervin’s career earnings) and for fans in what the NFL and MLB consider to be far-flung countries to watch each hurried update on their phones, but what about the game itself?
The offense is as good as it has ever been. But is that, y’know, good?
“It’s just fun to watch,” Gervin said. “I think once (Rockets) coach (Mike D’Antoni) inserted James Harden into the backcourt at point guard, I mean, wow. It just accelerated his game. So now we’re seeing things that we didn’t ever see in him. That just goes to show you about positions. And he’s motivating his team. He’s making guys better around him and they’re winning. … Same thing with Westbrook, now that Kevin (Durant) is gone. It’s Westbrook’s team and Westbrook always seems to have something to prove every time he steps on the court and he’s one of the best to do it.”
NBA teams are working as hard as ever on defense in ways that pale in comparison to both Gervin’s defense-averse era in the 1970s, and even the grinding and borderline-unwatchable style of defensive-first ball we saw in the late 1990s and early aughts. There is no shortage of brilliant defensive minds, outstanding defensive players, and hours toiled in the attempts to play great NBA defense. From teams 1 through 30. Even the Knicks, even the Trail Blazers.
The offense is just kicking the defense’s ass, though. Nightly, the NBA reminds us that, shock horror, evolution is real and players can actually improve upon what we once thought to be the gold standard: Magic, Larry, and then Michael.
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Whether types like George Karl want to believe it or not, the “soul of the game” not only exists, but those who perform nightly on NBA stages are as in love with the game as ever – with notable exceptions. Those who play dispassionately and take plays or games off are routinely chided almost immediately by the same sort of “social media” that crumbs like Karl and others tend to point to when they can’t think of a new way to say “new.”
Slovenly play will be outed, that’s one thing. The other has the Golden State Warriors winning at a pace that once brought the team great shame and dishonor some two decades ago. Running and passing and dishing in ways that leave them ranked tops in offense and No. 2 in defense, and they’re not even the defending champions.
The play tends to improve as the regular season moves on, and the 2016-17 NBA regular season isn’t even half over yet. In a climate that seems to be going in the opposite direction, this is all going to get much, much better.
George Karl has a vested interest in telling you everything’s gone to hell. Gary Payton, Charles Oakley and Oscar Robertson can’t say the same, but that hasn’t stopped them from saying as much.
Your humble author has no vested interest in either an 87-83 game or a 121-114 one. It’s the only thing we have in common with George Gervin.
If fans could step out of the day-to-day NBA hurricane a bit, long enough to appreciate things, it might give them a whole new perspective on how humming this league is at the moment. At the very least, we’d still like to invite Mssrs. Payton, Oakley and Robertson over for some tea and sympathy and a night in front of the NBA League Pass.
George Gervin can come, too. We’ll ask him to bring his famous cabbage rolls.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!