An NBA champion gave a much-needed reality check to people who claim to miss the old NBA

It’s an easy trap to fall into: the belief that things were better, more secure or more recognizable at some inexact point in the past. Between then (good) and now (bad) something happened to shove everything off course.

And not only was the past better, the past was yours. The memory of the first time you heard a type of music or saw a specific athletic feat can stick with you as much as any core memory. It happens. It is written. You get that experience once. Yet people don’t seem to realize that and can often seem to want it back at any cost anyway.

Not everyone trips when they are forced to confront that the past and the present are just fundamentally different. And truthfully, I can’t really blame the people who do. When you’re young, the unknowns are less threatening. Mistakes can be less crushing. Everything is still bright, and new, and fun. Novel experiences are an adventure rather than a hobby, or an expectation, or an obligation.

Now, don’t let me tell you you’re not allowed to live in your memories if you want. They’re yours, free to touch and play with whenever you have the desire. However, when you start prescribing those memories to the real world where people are living, endeavoring, and interacting with the present as it actually is, the results are no longer just theoretical or sympathetic. They can be exceedingly harmful.

I’m sure we can think of a couple examples. Here’s one (WARNING: NSFW):

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Channing Frye has a point about false nostalgia

Per Channing Frye, “Nostalgia is killing the NBA.” He goes on to say that “Nobody is celebrating these new people.” You can watch the whole clip, but his main point is that our memories of a "better NBA" might not hold any weight.

Can we talk about what these people are doing now rather than what some other people did 40 years ago? And can we put in some effort to actually be happy about it, please?

I can’t say all coverage is necessarily framed this way or is as negative as Channing implies it to be, but he’s far more correct than wrong. I cannot watch ESPN anymore. Leaving Twitter behind left a lot of that misery behind as well. I reflexively grimace any time people talk about how no one plays defense anymore. Watch the Thunder. Watch the Cavs.

It’s frustrating. You can watch more basketball than ever before. Teams that match your favorite style of play are right there on League Pass (if you can afford it). Clips, and breakdowns and podcasts discussing the actual play that’s happening when the players are playing are more numerous than ever. It has never been easier to consume and enjoy NBA games, assuming that’s what you’re here to do.

It’s almost as if some of the people who make these complaints are aware how empty they look when subjected to the lightest scrutiny. It’s almost as if they do it anyway for personal clout. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I would venture to say that a few of these people being the most bombastic and outlandish about the current state of the NBA are actually quite certain they’re wrong. But they do it anyway. How fun.

None of this is to say that you can’t prefer an older style of basketball. Maybe you think athleticism defines too much of who wins. Maybe you want more physical play. Or maybe you want personalities and interviews that don’t seem overly sanitized.

If you hate it so much, watch something else. Okay, that was rude, and I’m sorry.