One thing that I can't seem to get through to people is this: I maintain that during the '90s (the Jordan Era), the NBA was down, from a talent standpoint. That's not to take anything away from Jordan - again, he' s the unanimous G.O.A.T. (also, part of it may be that Jordan was so good, everyone else looked bad by comparison) - but let's take a closer look at the talent level in the NBA throughout the decades by using the Hall of Fame as an indicator of elite talent. Broken down by decade, here's a cliff notes version of the number of active HoFers that were playing during any given time-span, starting with the '50-'51 season.
From the '50-'51 season, through the '59-'60 season, the most active HoFers in any season was 26 (in both '55-'56, and '56-'57). The fewest number was 18 in '50-'51. You get the idea, here's the breakdown by decade:
From '60-'70: High - 29 ('68-'69;'69-'70); Low - 23 ('60-'61; '61-'62)
From '70-'80: High - 31 ('70-'71); Low 21 ('75-'76)
From '80-'90: High - 29 ('85); Low - 24 ('81-'82)
From here on, it gets a bit tricky because some players are still active or haven't been retired long enough for induction, but for simplicity sake, the following players are added to the HoF list: Kobe Bryant, Shaq O'Neal, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson,
From '90-'00: High - 20 ('90-'91) Low - 8 ('09-'10)
Now, the low of 8 in '09-'10 is misleading (stay tuned) because so many HoFers are still active/not yet eligible. However, I think it's safe to say that anybody who played during the '90-'91 season that's worthy of HoF induction is in already ... okay, maybe not, you could talk me into Tim Hardaway, Glen Rice, and maybe a couple others. But even if we add 3 more guys to the 20 already in, that number (representing the highest number of active HoFers during the decade) is still equal to or less than the low of any decade save for the '75-'76 season. Also, keep in mind that through the '70s, the talent was divided between the NBA and ABA (that's a very important sub-plot to all of this).
This brings us up to the present. Who are the active HoFers playing today? Well, of the years I looked at, the absolute highest number of active HoFers in any season is 31 (during '70-'71), but the number playing in today's game could eclipse that rather easily. Let's break it down:
Sure-fire HoFers playing now: LeBron James, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. (16 players)
Well on their way: Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Steph Curry, LaMarcus Aldridge, James Harden, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall. (9 players)
Work to do, but in the conversation: Rajon Rondo, Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, Al Horford, Al Jefferson, Ricky Rubio, Serge Ibaka, Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Roy Hibbert, Chandler Parsons, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Joe Johnson, David West, Kyrie Irving, Andre Drummond, Bradley Beal, Klay Thompson, and Paul Millsap. (25 players)
And that's to say nothing of this year's draft class - supposedly one of the deepest drafts ever, and the draft prior. So, combining the "Sure-fire" and "On their way" categories, there's 25 players set to be enshrined in the HoF. That means out of the remaining players, we're 6 short of tying the record for most HoFers active during one season. (I think we'll get there.)
By breaking it down like this, one can see the level of elite talent in any season relative to the overall talent in the league itself. I may be bias, but given the names mentioned of players active today that could one day be immortalized, it becomes clear that the NBA is rebounding nicely from the apparent lack of elite talent in the prior generation. Enjoy the present, NBA fans, this is as good as it gets. And to you, Mr. "NBA sucks" guy, I say good day, sir.
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