10 NBA players who were born in the wrong era

Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. (Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. (Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports) /
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The NBA has long been one of clear eras where certain players make more sense than others. Which NBA players were just born at the wrong time?

It happens all the time. A sport we love seems to change its philosophies, and we think about the players from the past who would have excelled. Baseball made a huge turn towards analytics which shows how important it is to get on base. Football is now mostly about the passing game and how much teams should get the ball down the field. However, there is no sport in existence that changes quite like professional basketball. Look at the different eras and how different it looks. The scores look different. The quality of athletes is different. Heck, even the game and its rules are different.

There are turning points to what changed these eras. Hand checking is the most popular change in basketball rules that changed the game. It increase scoring incredibly and it made some defensive players obsolete. There were more fouls called, and players had to decide to let stars do whatever they wanted.

Here are10 NBA players who needed to play in a different era

The other big change you hear a lot is the famous Phoenix Suns seven seconds or less offense. That specific offense is no longer around, but the lessons learned from it still live to this day. Mostly, the affinity for the three-point shot. Teams are focused on the Golden State Warriors model for winning basketball games.

Looking back at the eras, they are all so different. There are eras where entire positions become obsolete. It’s wild, to be honest. It also makes us think about players who had the unlucky notion to be born at the wrong time. If they were born 20 years ago or even 10 years in the future, they’d be one of the biggest stars of all time. Which ones pop out the most?