There’s a lot of talk today about positionless basketball and the basic concept really is pretty cool and in many ways where the game is going.
What’s less often said though is a necessary corollary: big men today are mostly mediocre, at least by historical standards.
Think about it: who was the last great center? Tim Duncan maybe, but Duncan was really a power forward. Prior to that it was probably Shaquille O’ Neal. And just before him the NBA saw Patrick Ewing, Ralph Sampson, when he was still healthy and David Robinson.
And before those guys there was Robert Parish, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Walt Bellamy, Willis Reed, Nate Thurmond, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.