As the National Basketball Association is just a few weeks from crowning its next champion, the NBA is going through its version of a youth movement. For the sixth consecutive season, they will celebrate a new champion. Only two of the four teams remaining have played for an NBA championship this century, making this one of the most unique times in the league’s prestigious history.
Since the Boston Celtics’ drafted Larry Bird and the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Magic Johnson a year later, those two players have been credited for revitalizing the NBA in the early 1980s. Not only did they personify the cities they played in, Bird in the gritty, northeastern town of Boston, and Magic in the glamourous city near the bright lights of Hollywood. They captured the hearts and minds of NBA fans with their play and ability to win at an elite level.
The season before Bird joined the Celtics, they won 29 games. In his first season sporting the Celtics green and white, they won 61 games. Their points per game also increased from 16th at 108.2 ppg to 5th in the league at 113.5 ppg. During Bird’s 13 years with the Celtics, he won the 1979-80 Rookie of the Year Award. He earned 12 NBA All-Star appearances, 10 All-NBA nominations, and three All-Defensive team nominations. He also won three Most Valuable Player awards, three NBA Championships, and two NBA Finals MVPs, including a spot on the NBA’s Top 75 Anniversary team, making him arguably the best Celtic player in the team’s history.
The only person keeping Bird from being the NBA’s unanimous best player of the decade was the Lakers’ Magic Johnson, after beating Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores for the national championship in the most-watched college basketball game ever, with 35.1 million viewers. Magic led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA Championships from 1980 to 1988. Along the way, Magic would win three league Most Valuable Player awards, three NBA finals MVPs, 12 NBA All-Star appearances, and 10 All-NBA nominations, in addition to claiming his spot on the NBA Top 75 Anniversary Team.
Coming out of the 1980s, your answer to “who was the face of the NBA” largely depended on which coast you lived on or which team you were a fan of. Either way, your answer was going to be Bird or Magic. While the Lakers would make another NBA Finals appearance in 1991, the face of the league torch would soon be passed onto Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls.
Whether it was his one-on-one attacking aerial assault on the NBA and their fans or his memorable shoe commercials with legendary film director Spike Lee, who famously stated in their commercial, “It’s got to be the shoes,” which made Jordan great. Or was it the catchy Gatorade campaign that had everyone, worldwide, wanting to ‘Be Like Mike?” Either way, Jordan’s branding with Nike captivated the NBA and still has the league and millions of their fans yearning for the latest release of his Jordan brand shoes.
Not only was Jordan marketing gold for the NBA before he began winning. His two spurts of winning three consecutive NBA championships during the 1990s only launched him into an unseen or unheard-of stratosphere. The NBA’s 1984-85 Rookie of the Year finished his career with 14 All-Star nominations, 10 NBA Scoring Titles, nine All-Defensive nominations, five NBA MVP Awards, and six NBA Finals MVPs. Since Jordan retired in 2003, the league, their fans, and their pundits have been looking to peg the next guy to take the mantle left bare by Jordan’s meteoric rise.
Some of you reading this article may remember how USC’s Harold Miner, UNC’s Jerry Stackhouse, or Duke’s Grant Hill was each thought to be the next Michael Jordan. Hill would get the closest, though injuries would not allow his career to fulfill the promise basketball fans anticipated. Not until a well-traveled high school player from the Philadelphia area named Kobe Bryant would the league see anyone with the game, persona, and attitude Michael Jordan brought to the NBA.
Drafted into the Lakers lineage by legendary Laker GM Jerry West, Kobe was drafted with the 13th pick of the 1996 draft and acquired via trade. By the time Kobe’s 20-season Laker career was complete, he would challenge Magic’s position as the greatest Laker we’ve seen. Not only did Kobe win five NBA Championships wearing the Laker’s purple and gold, but won two NBA Finals MVPs. He earned 18 All-Star game appearances, was nominated to 15 All-NBA teams, and was named to the All-Defensive team 12 times.
It was clear to anyone fortunate enough to see both Jordan and Kobe play, that Kobe relentlessly studied Jordan’s flair for the game. Not only did Kobe mimic his high-flying game, but Kobe brought his turnaround jumper back to life. As he did his walk and talk. This homage to Jordan indicated that Kobe prioritized winning and becoming the best he could become, including being the face of the NBA. We now see and hear many of today’s players paying their reverence to the late Kobe Bryant when they speak of the Mamba Mentality.
One of the players that has filled the void left by Kobe is current Laker Lebron James. As a fellow player who jumped right into the NBA from high school, James’ game is more like Magic Johnson’s than Bryant’s or Jordan’s. Listed at 6’9” and 260 lbs. with single-digit body fat, James is one of the most physically gifted players the league has seen. In traditional basketball, James would’ve played the power-forward position. Yet because of his ability to handle the ball and make pinpoint passes on the court, his game rivaled that of previously mentioned Magic Johnson.
Since being drafted by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, James’ illustrious career includes four NBA Championships with three different teams. Two with the Miami Heat, one with the Cavaliers, and one with the Lakers. James has received an unprecedented 20 NBA All-Star nominations and has been named to 20 All-NBA teams. He has become the league’s all-time scoring leader, registering over 40,000 points while surpassing Bryant (4) and Jordan (5), and is 4th in assists for his career.
Since the Golden State Warriors have won consecutive NBA Championships led by Stephon Curry and Kevin Durant, the NBA has crowned five different champions, and the team to win the championship in 2024 will be the sixth. This includes the James-led Lakers, who won their last championship during the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020.
Though the NBA doesn’t have an image issue, identifying the face of the NBA is a discussion worth having. Since James was drafted in 2003 and the Detroit Pistons won the Championship in 2004, 11 teams have won champions. The Golden State Warriors have collected the most rings with four, followed by the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Lakers with three a piece. The Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dallas Mavericks have won an NBA title.
This speaks to the parity of the NBA and how not one single player has dominated the game as in years past, which also makes it challenging to peg the face of the league. As the Larry O’Brien Trophy (the name for the NBA Championship) finds a new home each season, it makes it tough for NBA fans, NBA marketers, and the media to pronounce or identify the face of the league.
Since that 2004 championship, the league has named 14 players as NBA Finals MVP, supporting the fact that not one player is dominating the league. With many of those players on the back nine of their respective careers (LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard), or already retired (Andre Iguodala, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Tony Parker, Dwayne Wade) or coaching (Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups), only Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo are in the best position to add to their legacy.
There is little doubt that the NBA is in good hands with its influx of young talent. As the leagues continue to grow and expand, the NBA will soon be in the hands of their young talent. Talented players like 2024 Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and runner-up Chet Holmgren. NBA MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic. The NBA Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers and runner-up Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets. Including the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in Naz Reid of the Minnesota Timberwolves and his running mate Anthony Edwards.
As the most notable NBA players like Curry, James, and Durant, and teams we have watched for years, like the Warriors, Lakers, and Heat, have been eliminated from the playoffs earlier than they might’ve expected, these young players and new teams take center stage. How are basketball fans embracing this NBA youth movement with these young players and teams? Are long-time NBA fans enjoying this new parity and this youthful takeover, or do you prefer to see a single force or team dominate the league?
