Basketball of Today and Yesterday

Then and Now: The Game of Basketball
By: Amy Breckin

As the years progress, we find ourselves looking back at all of the great players and great teams that resonated in our hearts and minds. Whether we are old or young, there is always that one team or that one player that we love because we relate to them. Sometimes we wish that we could be on that team and be that player because that is our dream. For people young and old the game of basketball has been a driving force for pick-up games with kids in the neighborhood, but has also really changed over the years.

For years, my dad, Tim, 51, has been a fan of the Boston Celtics. None of us understand why. He was born and raised in South Philadelphia and is the biggest Eagles, Flyers, and Phillies fan that you will ever meet, but he is the greatest Boston Celtics fan. My dad grew up playing basketball in leagues and also played in numerous pick-up games throughout his childhood, sporting the infamous Chuck Taylor high tops, or fondly known as “Chucks.” My dad loved the game of basketball, but for some unknown reason, the Boston Celtics became his team.

“I just never related to anyone on the Sixers,” says Tim, “to be honest, Larry Bird has been this iconic and incredible player that I just marvel at.” My dad never really had a favorite basketball team as a child playing the game because at that age, we all think that we are the greatest. “As I got older and I stopped playing the game, I started to really carefully watch the games, and I just thought that Larry Bird was the most amazing player that I had ever seen” says Tim, “his work ethic was unbelievable, and he was the greatest all-around player that I have seen in my time.” My dad is also showing his age by explaining that basketball is not what is used to be. “Now, basketball is just about money and expensive sneakers. For $20 you could buy a pair of chucks that lasted you the entire season, now players wear a new pair of sneakers every night, it’s ridiculous.” My dad still watches the Celtics occasionally, but now he is not as diehard about everything because his beloved Larry Bird has retired, and dad just “does not like what the NBA has become.”

Now, we travel from the days of Chuck Taylor sneakers to the era of Air Jordans. My cousin Kristin, 15, plays basketball for Clearview Regional High School in Mantua, NJ. She loves the Philadelphia 76ers. She wears her Sixers jacket with pride, even though they have not had much success in the past few years. The most interesting thing about my cousin and her love of the Sixers was that she does not relate to the players. “I do not look at the players as role models because a lot of the players have had some bad press,” says Kristin, “I mainly look at their playing skills and techniques and try to emulate them, but I don’t want to act like them off of the court.” Kristin is focused on school and also sports, but she thinks that the NBA does not display the greatest role models for athletes like her because of antics off-court and even the occasional on the court situations as well.

Kristin believes that her work ethic might be slightly better than the professionals, especially in terms of practice. “I practice all of the time, especially in the off-season, so it really bothers me that professionals who are getting paid to do this do not practice their game,” says Kristin. “I do not have a favorite player, but I do cheer for the Sixers because I consider them my home team.”

Times have changed from the days of emulating your favorite athlete, to trying to avoid behaving badly like some athletes do. Maybe the players of today just do not resonate with the fans like the players of old used to. Maybe the bad behavior of athletes has tainted our opinion of professional sports. It is the dream of every sports fan to think that somewhere out there is a kid and his friends that are in the neighborhood schoolyard or park shooting baskets and trying to be the next Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, or Steve Nash.