Lakers legend James Worthy rips modern NBA players

Los Angeles Lakers legend James Worthy offered some harsh criticism of today’s NBA players.

Worthy was a guest on the “Stoney & Jansen Show” on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Wednesday. During the interview, Worthy was asked for his thoughts on today’s NBA being so reliant on the 3-pointer. Worthy, who played three seasons collegiately at North Carolina, says the lack of time players spend in college is hurting them and the game.

“I mean, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] had four years with John Wooden, Michael Jordan and I had three years with Dean Smith, Isiah [Thomas] had some years with Bobby Knight. So you learned the fundamentals,” Worthy said. “Not only that, you learned how to live. You learned how to balance your freaking checkbook in college; there’s a lot of things.

“When you don’t get that, guys are coming to the NBA who are not fundamentally sound. All they do is practice 3s, lift weights, get tattoos, tweet and go on social media. That’s it.”

Worthy was the No. 1 overall pick in 1982. The three-time NBA champion and former NBA Finals MVP also commented on the style of play in today’s NBA (beyond the focus on 3s).

“You don’t have that sound player; you have an athletic player. And that’s what’s happening to the game. It’s a lot of ISO and looking for mismatches. Bill Russell told me one time, they had five options off of one play. You don’t see that anymore.”

There will be plenty of people who read these comments and discard them as the “get off my lawn” rantings of a 61-year-old. But there are also plenty of people who agree with him and feel the product is not as good as it can be.

While the quality of players in the NBA is definitely strong, the lack of consistently competitive games — especially in the postseason — is an issue. Fans want to see close games, not blowouts in either direction. The lack of close games is leading many people to search for an explanation. Worthy’s explanation certainly is a strong one.