In Kevin Durant‘s latest episode of his podcast, “The ETCs”it addressed the belief that the NBA of the 1980s and 1990s was simply a more physical brand of basketball.
During the episode, which aired Wednesday, Durant explained that he’s been watching old game footage and is not in the camp of those who assume the NBA was more physical in the past. “I go back and watch a lot of those ’90s movies, ’80s stuff, and they play physically, but I think they got away with a lot of flagrant fouls,” Durant said.
In an era that featured the “bad boys” Pistons, as well as the tough Knicks teams led by Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley, he argues that it’s simply because players were allowed to play that style because flagrant fouls did not result in severe punishment.
“A lot of those fouls that Bill Laimbeer would foul, the way he would foul guys would result in a suspension today,” Durant said. “Guys are more wary of being more physical because of it.”
While he admits the game has evolved defensively, he just disagrees that the previous era featured a tougher style or even tougher players: “Guys, we play physical here, too,” Durant said. “There is more space, but the guys play physically, here we also have strong and athletic guys. But you got a lot of flagrant fouls that didn’t result in fines or getting taken out of the game, so it seemed like it was a little more difficult.”
"They played physically, but I think they got away with a lot of flagrant fouls and I think that’s why they call their era more physical than ours."
Kevin Durant on the physicality of the NBA in the 80s and 90s 🗣️
(through @boardroom)pic.twitter.com/LcVB9kqfwf
— Clutch Points (@ClutchPointsApp) April 6, 2023
There’s no denying that the game is officiated differently today, and has even changed substantially over the course of Durant’s 18-year career. But according to the Suns superstar, the physicality of the game hasn’t gone away.