Havlicek actually rarely got tired. His endurance was pretty legendary. My dad grew up in Maine and Havlicek was his favorite player and he told me that growing up. There are a few articles on it with quotes from players back in the day.
“He’s a freak,” says Jerry West, who played 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before his retirement after the 1973-74 season. “His endurance is incredible.” Pat Riley of the Lakers adds, “There’s not a man in the NBA who can stay with John the whole game and survive. His body is made to go on forever.” Havlicek used to say he had oversized lungs. He also shared with some teammates that his heart rate was abnormally low. “And he could run just about all day long without sweating, without really feeling what a lot of other players feel,” said former Celtics teammate Satch Sanders. “I remember sometimes we’d talk about that. I’d say, hey John, you’re gifted as an athlete. Don’t be looking at everybody else and expecting them to run with you. Because that’s not going to happen.”
in an era where guys smoked at halftime and worked as cab drivers in the off season this one guy was really in shape doesn't change that the game was much less physically taxing back then
this specific thing always kills me. if you watch the replays of games on nba tv, they are literally letting magic johnson just run up and down the floor with the ball. there is nothing resembling the open court defense that is considered standard today.
Ryen is always auditioning for a front office job when he does an interview with a league person. Let me give you a big monologue about all the angles about how I/you guys think and what you won’t answer.
im not belittling, i just think viewing people in the context of their era is important for not saying shit like "George Mikan is the GOAT"
They weren't as good and the game wasn't good, training and conditioning methods as well as sports medicine have all improved dramatically. That isn't belittlement, that's just objectively looking at basketball
No one is going to that extreme but shitting on Havlicek like he isn’t a top 30-40 isn’t right either to me.
they were great at that time. i have no issue with that. the shoes they were wearing, running up and down shitty courts. shit hotels on the road. shit fans when they came back to boston. i just laugh at how john havlicek is the most referenced player from that era. maybe the most referenced on the pod outside of bird.
This popped up on my YouTube feed this week and thought it was pretty interesting RE style of play in different decades. LMBO at thinking any player from today wouldn’t ruin basically anyone from before 1980.
I think it’s because he was one of the best players from an era on the favorite team of Bill and his dad. I think a lot of players today athletically would also do better back then but I also believe a lot of guys in the 60-70s would also be better if they played today with all the advantages. I think it goes both ways.
100 percent this, I dont get why people try and bring up these points when a comparison is made. The time machine is never gonna be kind to older generations and its dumb to compare them.
modern players are more skilled (and basically always will be into perpetuity) modern players are more specialized; someone with a 7'2 wingspan at 6'5 is far more likely to be an NBA player now than in the past modern players have much better equipment (shoes, rims/backboards, nba floors), nutrition, and training the only thing i sort of push back on (though not actually, because this conversation is a bore) is that modern players are vastly superior athletes. they are probably taller/longer just given the specialization but dudes who could run and jump in 1970 are still dudes who can run and jump in 2020. i've linked it before but the ted talk about how just about all athletic improvement can be chalked up to equipment blew my mind.
You mean like if Jesse Owens was born now his times would be X faster because of modern training, nutrition etc right?
Giannis would average 70/30 in Havilchek’s era. They were just objectively worse at basketball because there was less practice, conditioning, sports science, strategy, minorities, money, etc. in sports. Babe Ruth would face todays closers who throw 100 and shit his pants. maybe those guys would have been good in this era if they took advantage of the better practices, maybe they would be just ok, and happened to play in an era where the best athletes weren’t able or incentivized to pursue it strongly. Bob Cousy sucked.
One freak show athlete in Wilt Chamberlain made it to the league and averaged 50 points in a season. Giannis is basically Wilt + muscle + better shooter.
Probably not because the average American is overweight today, but any team in the Top 25 in college could win the NBA title easily.
I would not take a 3 the entire season because as a former C league intramural basketball champion, I have a first step that would be legitimately unstoppable in the 1960s NBA
As covered, he was amazing and one of the first great athletes in the NBA, as such he’s the only player to average 50 points because the rest of the league was garbage.
It was definitely way way weaker, but there were also still amazing athletes in the league and while I know Tobias (I think?) is being tongue-in-cheek saying 90 percent of us could be all NBA I think people really overestimate how bad the league was.
It’s almost as if people don’t evolve? I get it but acting like modern players don’t benefit either is so close minded
Of course and I addressed that but if Bob Cousy was born in 1989 he’s probably like an accountant or car salesman or some shit.
Bob Cousy sucked and it’s ok to admit he just played in an era where a 6 foot 175lb guy who was horrible at shooting was a star because the game hadn’t come into its own. I promise you can admit that and not lose your boring guy card.
1962 6th man of the year (if they had it) would be Dump coming in in the second quarter with that Smooth J. He’d cramp up in the 2nd half from all the Dr Pepper he drank at halftime
I know the game is different. That is obvious. Boring is your call. Probably due to you being younger.
Yeah you give off a boring white guy vibes in most threads. Defending old also boring dudes like Bill Simmons and conservative figures will send that signal. Maybe I misremembered when you said you were born from an 80s thread. Thought you were 1980.
I was born in 1980. You might think I’m boring but it’s because you are younger and at a different place. When I was younger I was less boring to people like you. We’re at different places.