Not playing style but rules have made the NBA quite different from what it used to be. NBA legends like Gary Payton, Charles Oakley, and many more aren’t really fond of it. He believes the new rules in the NBA have made the game safer. But he has also admitted that these rules have transformed the league into a “softer” version of itself. After praising these same changes a few years ago, Payton seems to have changed his opinion on the modern NBA.

Payton stated that we might never experience the same physical style of basketball again. The 9x NBA All-Star highlighted the shift in mindset among today’s players, who he feels are too influenced by entertainment and fame. He even once tweeted that he could never play in the league again because of this change. 

In a conversation with sports personality Joy De’Angela, Payton stated, “You won’t see physical basketball again. I just think it comes from an era in the league changing. The league wants to see more entertaining….NBA is more about, the social thing around.” He said that the league doesn’t want the new generation to recreate what their idols did on the court. 

Metta World Peace once even stated that it is not the players lacking in toughness but rather the rules that stop them. Payton had a similar opinion. He added how these rules are manipulated. “Nowadays, their weapon is a three-point. They’re running to the basketball. And then this crazy mess where you got to go to a monitor and see if you got hit in the head. In our era, if you went to the basket, we wouldn’t let nobody dunk,” Payton said.

While the NBA has undergone many changes under Commissioner Adam Silver to make it global, Payton seems concerned about how these changes have affected the game. Oakley once even mentioned that it is to watch basketball since most of them are bad games.

He once mentioned that if he were to play in the current league, he would have to spend his salary on paying fines. Interestingly, a few years ago, Payton appeared to be aligned with Commissioner Silver’s views.

Gary Payton spoke about Adam Silver’s new rules 

Payton appreciated NBA Commissioner Silver’s new rules, highlighting their importance in setting an example for the young viewers of the game. Speaking of the past incident from 2016 when Draymond Green received a flagrant foul for hitting James Harden in the face, Payton said, “Adam Silver is doing a great job doing all that stuff he’s trying to make this game a better game.”

Payton agreed with the decision, stating that it was right based on the new rules. During the conversation, the Sonics legend frequently compared the current generation of players to those from his era.

The former Seattle Sonics star highlighted how today’s players focus on scoring, making the game more entertaining, while the previous era emphasized dominating and defeating opponents. “It’s just changed. You can’t put your hands on guys… In our era, we were focused on locking guys down,” he had stated. 

Well, each era is unique in its game, and that is what contributes to the sport’s ongoing evolution and entertainment value.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.