One of the biggest debates among basketball fans is whether NBA stars of the present could compete in the era when players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas dominated.
The rules regarding hand-checking, illegal defense and even hard fouls were different in the 1980s and 1990s than they are in the 2000s and beyond.
Johnson appeared on ABC’s “After The Dance” on Tuesday and was asked by host Stephen A. Smith which five players currently playing in the NBA could have competed with himself and Jordan.
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Johnson listed: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Johnson chose Curry over players like Jimmy Butler or Kyrie Irving because of his ability to shoot the ball.
The other players Johnson chose are far more physical than Curry is and could take how rough the game was played, especially for those driving into the paint. It wouldn’t have been so hard for those people trying to score on players like Charles Oakley, Rick Mahorn or Robert Parrish.
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Johnson and his Los Angeles Lakers were dominant in the 1980s and lost to Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals.