Ewing, Olajuwon Represent Golden Era of NBA

The NBA was recently ranked behind NASCAR, Major League Baseball, the NFL, College Basketball & Football and even the NHL in a popularity poll. The NBA is now a shell of its former self, only a decade after the final retirement of Michael Jordan and many of the other Top 50 players in NBA history.

Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon were elected into the Hall of Fame this week, and while they were far from flashy players, they joined the likes of Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen to demonstrate fundamental team basketball where the competitiveness of the game outshadowed the individual accomplishments of the players. Now highlights include 7 dunks by Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant with a small mention at the end that the Lakers won by 10.

While I'm not a proponent of eliminating individual accomplishment from the NBA, the promotion of the individual is doomed for failure. As the "stars" of the game fail both personally and professionally, it takes away from the excitement of the game. The last thing advertisers want to see is another San Antonio vs. Detroit NBA Finals because Duncan, Ginobli, Hamilton and Billups aren't flashy scorers. The teams play fundamental basketball but they don't have the explosiveness of Kobe & KG.

It may be hard to imagine the NBA returning to the greatness of the 90s, stars like Allen Iverson, Starbury and Kobe Bryant aren't helping the image of the league. Fundamental team basketball that is competitive, where players are active on defense, is ultimately more interesting to watch than a 168-142 shootout between two teams with no sense of defense.

Am I the only one who would like to see one last MJ return?