'We're Done With The 90s': LeBron James Takes A Shot At Old School NBA Players While Discussing Basketball's Evolution

LeBron James recently invited Kevin Durant on his "Mind The Game" podcast with Steve Nash. They discussed several aspects of NBA basketball, from trends to opinions and even the history of the game. While discussing the evolution of basketball from the 1990s to the modern-day game, James seemed to unintentionally take a shot at the 1990s players, seemingly in support of the 'We're done with the 90s' trend on TikTok. 

He spoke with Durant and Nash on whether defense has gotten more creative or has the offensive game opened up further in the modern game. While James argued that the modern-day defense has boiled down to switching and talking trash, Nash argued that offensive avenues have opened up further in the modern game. 

“I would almost flip it. It's not the defense, maybe defense has evolved now, but the offenses have challenged them more these days. New solutions, playing fast, shooting the ball from farther out, like you know, you watch clips from 15-20 years ago, like almost everybody's inside the three-point line,” said Nash.

“15-20 years ago, sh** I was in the league. I thought you were about to say some sh** about the 90s man… We’re done with the 90s!” exclaimed a 40-year-old James, realizing how long he had been in the league.

Kevin Durant agreed and further claimed that the 1990s style of basketball "bled into" the 2000s so much that every team essentially had only one three-point shooter and the rest were players who only shot mid-range or closer.

How Has Basketball Evolved Over The Years? 

Seeing the evolution of basketball into what it is today, from what it was just a few decades ago, is quite astonishing. Earlier, the average total scores for each team were much lower than what it is today. Some attribute this to better defense in the earlier days, and some attribute it to the efficient modern-day offense. 

The average points per game for NBA teams in the 1990s was 101.3 points per game (ppg). This is lower than the 1980s (around 109 ppg) and significantly lower than the 1960s (115 ppg). But after the 1990s, the 2000s had an even lower team average of total points scored by each team (96.9 ppg).

One could interpret the eras as follows: in the early 1960s and 1970s, the defensive game hadn't evolved as much as it did in terms of parity across all teams having strong defenders. Therefore, drive-in layups and mid-range shots were used sufficiently to generate points. 

In the 1980s and 1990s, defensive teams like the Bad Boy Pistons and prolific individual defenders like Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Michael Jordan, and David Robinson came to the spotlight. Hence, when defence became the blueprint to win, teams across the league saw a fall in their offensive efficiency even in the early 2000s. 

The 2010s (102.2 ppg) and 2020s (112.7 ppg) saw a rise in the offensive output due to the rise of the three-point shot in these generations. Players like Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, Kyle Korver, and Kevin Durant himself, pioneered the era that saw moving further away from the basket to score is also a viable solution.