Horace Grant said Michael Jordan could average 45 in today’s NBA

When you look at today’s NBA, the rules are slanted for offense. They eliminated hand checks, and defense isn’t a priority. When it comes to comparing players and other things between eras, I hate it. Although we like to think we would know how certain players could do in certain eras, there is really no way to know. But, for some reason we like to bring them up anyways, and Horace Grant told the Chicago Tribune that Michael Jordan could dominate today’s NBA:

"“No, you can’t compare (eras),” he said. “The rules have changed so much from our days and the Heat’s days. It was more physical back then. Today you can run around without getting touched. Today, Michael Jordan would average about 45 points.”"

This is the same thing as the stories your grandparents tell about walking home from school in the snow uphill both ways. Players will always say their era was the toughest to play in. Horace Grant played with Jordan in Chicago, so it’s no surprise that he thinks his guy would dominate. I have no doubt that Jordan could be as great as he was back then today, but the game has changed beyond just the rules. Today’s athletes are bigger and stronger, and basketball is so much bigger globally, that the talent pool is bigger. Nonetheless this argument will never go away, so I’m fighting an uphill battle. Both ways.