How old are you?I don’t mean to sound disrespectful but age gives perspective. Growing up, I knew that the Jazz always had to go through some combination of Houston, Los Angeles, and/or Chicago to win the championship. And most the league had the same problem. There was zero parity in the NBA for most of my lifetime and I’m approaching middle age. It’s why we still talk about the Detroit piston of 2004 now 21 years later because they’re such an outlier. And honestly? If Malone doesn’t suffer a bad knee injury, we likely don’t even remember Detroit. That team was awesome but man it sure helped that Kobe was battling rape allegations, Shaq was finally showing his age, and Malone finally suffered a bad injury after 20 years of being indestructible.
Which is why I think The NBA has never seen more parity than now. Just look at how few dynasties we’ve seen lately. A team can make it to the finals one year and be a complete afterthought the next year.
When I was really little it was Boston or Detroit taking whacks at Los Angeles. Then, we went through the Jordan era with a two year break of Houston winning it twice in a row. Shortly after the Jordan era ended, the Shaq-Kobe lakers era began which was succeeded with the Kobe-Gasol lakers that dominated the west for several years. Throw in the spurs always being in the mix and winning a championship every other year. Then the LeBron heat. Then the Splash bros arrived. The NBA has been turned on its head in the last 8 years either because of the last CBA or some combination of CBA and 5 out strategies. Even Denver, with the best player in the game, couldn’t manage to get out of the 2nd round. Big names that would’ve dominated in years past, Kawhi, Giannis, LeBron, and Steph are barely remembered in this playoff due to the way things have shaken out.
Yeah, it sucks that he Jazz are god awful and will likely remain a non-contender for the remainder of the decade. A lot of us was brought on by themselves. They could’ve held onto Gobert until he retired. They could’ve kept Mitchell on until he publicly demanded a trade. They could’ve not sucked at drafting players. But that doesn’t mean that the NBA doesn’t have parity. If anything, it has more parity than the NFL right now. How many more times do we need to see the Eagles and Chiefs in the Super Bowl? It’s boring. It’s the same 4 teams. When will Arizona, Detroit, any team from New York, or a team from Texas play in the Super Bowl?