I read an article on Yahoo where Dominique Wilkins was downplaying Lebron’s 61 point performance and calling out that there was no defense and it was against a sub .500 Bobcats team.  You’ll have to find him on Twitter to get each and every Tweet on the subject but here are the key ones.

No denying he put on a shooting display. He was hot. Let’s not forget, he was playing the Bobcats. A sub 500 team w a match up nightmare.

— Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

 

Watch the film. No close outs on D, doubles were late, rotations were slow. It was too easy to score. At 54 y/o I could drop 40 on that D — Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

Bron is a freakish athlete, yes, no doubt. I could say I was too in my prime, but averaging 30 then against the greats like Bird, MJ, King — Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

 

My take is not knocking Bron at all. It’s really more so about the game & how it has changed.

— Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) March 4, 2014

 

 

 

Warranted Comments?

What I took from this isn’t Dominique critiquing Lebron’s game which is what the average layman would think.  Nor the odd egotistical nature of Dominique Wilkins thinking he could drop 40 points against any team currently.  It’s his final Tweet which I believe is accurate.  I was a huge basketball fan when guys like Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, and Nique were in their prime.  I was a little kid who didn’t understand basketball like I do now, but I did grow up surrounded by these legends.    With these comments, Nique is pointing out how wide the range of talent on the floor is today which I can’t decide if it was the same as in the 80’s and 90’s when basketball was considered great.  This is the key question when thinking over these comments.  Were the 5 starters on all teams closer in talent than in today’s game?

I would consider myself a Sixers fan if there is such a thing today.  Watching a team lose 15 straight and winning a 100 dollars betting against them the last two nights, I know that the talent on the floor is sad.  Lebron would be a knife cutting through the Sixers defensive butter and could probably score 100 against them if he wanted to.  Does this belittle the fact that he can do it in an NBA game?  I don’t think it does.

If it were so easy to score 61 points in a game, wouldn’t anyone be able to do it?  “After all, it has only happened 31 times for 18 players in the last 51 years — those are numbers that indicate just how difficult and rare the accomplishment is.”  The answer is that even with no defense and below average NBA talent, 99% of the players in the league are not dropping 61 points.

So this brings about, Dominique, why on Earth are you making this a discussion.  Is it to make you feel better about yourself?  When I read articles like this, the only reason I write about them is to point out how stupid it is for 1) to make the comments and 2) to turn them into a story.  When aging stars make ridiculous comments comparing themselves to the present, no one should listen.  Sit back in your recliner and sip a beer while enjoying this unevenly talented NBA.  However, I think it’s fair to say The Human Highlight Film may know a thing or two about basketball.