Does the "Today's worst NBA team beats 90s Bulls" Theory work in MMA ?

[Ezekiel 25:17]

The argument is with the advantage of science and tech and training, today's worst NBA team could beat the best NBA team from the 2000s or before. If true, does this hold up for MMA ?

Could #15 ranked Martin Buday beat any top three HW from, say, 2003-2008 simply because of the advances in training, nutrition, and knowledge since that time because the fight game has evolved that much ?

Lol. This argument fails so hard. Sports Science doesnt equal actual talent, hard work and determination/passion. You cant just inject yourself with the super serum and expect to dribble circles around people. People break a toe and limp off now. Back then, guys took elbows to the face, tore ligaments and still played out full quarters.

Todays teams would have gotten battered and beatdown by teams like the 90s bulls. Could you imagine how many points Jordan would have scored in todays lack of D, foul heavy era. Rodman woulda made most of these powder puffs leave the court in tears, lol.

Imagine a Shaq and Kobe Lakers team vs todays best, lol. Shaq would be virtually unstoppable. Kobe woulda been free to score at will.

 

[Morning Star]

He needed Kobe’s diet lol. That was definitely what destroyed his career.


Shaq explained that while he weighed around 285 pounds when he left college and began his NBA career with the Orlando Magic, he was soon required to pack on some weight, leading to a "130-pound bulk" over his first season.

"They started Hack-a-Shaq with me early," he said. "So I was lifting weights, and I was 300, and then 315. Phil Jackson came in, the first championship I was 345, then I had a great summer, came back 385 for the second one."

He added that by the time he had left Orland for the LA Lakers, he weighed 415 pounds. But that changed when he signed with the Miami Heat. "And then when I got traded away, Pat Riley had me doing army drills, and I got back down to 325," he continued. "It was up and down."

His other problem was he wanted to do it all. Movies, party, DJ, music. He wanted to be a Renaissance Man not the best basketball player on the planet. He felt like he could do it on talent and physical gifts alone.

 

[Yep]

I don't think the worst NBA team now beats the 95-96 bulls that's wild, but the avg NBA player in 2023 is more skilled than the Avg NBA player of 1995 I don't think that's too debatable. Same way the Avg guy in the UFC in 2023 is better than the avg guy in the early 2000s. For example Jens Pulver and Caol Uno were considered two of the the top 5 LWs in the world in the early 2000s but I am confident someone like Dan Hooker who is a fringe top 10 guy runs either of those dudes out of the building in their prime

How confident were you in Fury running through Ngannou? Jens wouldn’t even be in the same weight class as Dan Hooker. I mean if Dan and Jens met at fly or bantamweight Iwould take Jens all day. Jens was a nasty wrestler who could box. But let’s be real, dude was extremely small by the standards of those days. Forget about today. I think people really love to hang on to today being so much more evolved. And yes it’s way more evolved. Heck the the first UFC’s are kind of hard to watch at this point. But the toughness of guys like the militech camp and chute box and so on may not have the knowledge of today’s fighters but the tenacity and toughness make it hard to just say they would get rolled if we are talking prime vs prime. Sure some would obviously. Some weren’t as good even in their own eras. But they just overcame. But there’s outliers in there for sure.

 

[Yep]

His other problem was he wanted to do it all. Movies, party, DJ, music. He wanted to be a Renaissance Man not the best basketball player on the planet. He felt like he could do it on talent and physical gifts alone.

Man I wish I was so blessed to be dominant at something but I hate the idea of just not really caring about it. But you see that so much in sports. Why they have the phrase, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. But that’s only true to a point. Especially when you’re born with certain physical advantages. One of my kids is so good at so many things and yet he’s great at nothing. And boy that can drive me crazy. Shaq had no choice but to be great at basketball whether he wanted to or not. Such a wild thought. Just imagine if he had the passion to be great as well.

 

[IneedSometop]

How confident were you in Fury running through Ngannou? Jens wouldn’t even be in the same weight class as Dan Hooker. I mean if Dan and Jens met at fly or bantamweight Iwould take Jens all day. Jens was a nasty wrestler who could box. But let’s be real, dude was extremely small by the standards of those days. Forget about today. I think people really love to hang on to today being so much more evolved. And yes it’s way more evolved. Heck the the first UFC’s are kind of hard to watch at this point. But the toughness of guys like the militech camp and chute box and so on may not have the knowledge of today’s fighters but the tenacity and toughness make it hard to just say they would get rolled if we are talking prime vs prime. Sure some would obviously. Some weren’t as good even in their own eras. But they just overcame. But there’s outliers in there for sure.

Fury vs Ngannou I thought like most people that Ngannou had a punchers chance but if the fight went long Fury would box him up. The weightclass thing is part of the evolution of the game athletes today are bigger, stronger, faster, with better training methods to sharpen their skills. I think for the most part the elite of mid 2000s would be elite today. Prime BJ, AS, Rampage, Shogun, Wand, GSP etc would still be top tier/championship level guys if they were placed in their divs today. Biggest change as I said earlier is in your average guy

 

[Morning Star]

Who thinks todays NBA teams would beat the 90's Bulls?

90s Bulls would toy with the Heat and Celtics teams that made the finals the last 2 years. Not sure where this narrative came about that today's players are so much more skilled came from. If 90s players could take 5 steps and carry every possession I'm sure they'd put up even better #s on offense too. Jason Tatum is considered a top 5 player lmao. That dude would be just another SG in the 00s and 90s.

 

[Adamant]

The argument is with the advantage of science and tech and training, today's worst NBA team could beat the best NBA team from the 2000s or before.

No

 

[HP_Nut]

People can't be this dumb. There are much more fighters on the roster today, UFC has close to 700 fighters on their roster. If anyone thinks fighter number 700 would beat Anderson, GSP, I have a bridge to sell. The overall avg skill level is definitely better, but to say the worst MW or WW would beat the MW & WW GOAT is laughable

 

[Frank Kain]

i feel like someone like prime marc coleman could have been competitive today especially at HW. the forward pressure, the juice, EPO, a fight camp in this era, he could expose the ground games of HW fighters today. maybe wishful thinking. maybe not.

I agree. Coleman would still have to adapt his game a bit, and be better at submissions. Lots boxing/sparring too, to make him more comfortable in the middle of the cage, where he is most vulnerable. But he could absolutely Khabib a lot of the all time HWs. Even Jones would struggle with a guy like Mark’s strength.

 

[Limeade]

Can you imagine Shawn Kemp or Patrick Ewing with today's ruleset. Now we call fouls for any contact and these guys would be unopposed.

Other posters might have mentioned it, but the big rule changes.of what is illegal defense also changed the game. Less congested paint and more opportunity for screens and scoring. I'm not sure if MMA has a comparable rule change, so hard to carry it as an analogy.

I think today's top 15 at lightweight, like Benoit St. Denis or Drew Dober, could have taken Jens Pulver or Caol Uno. But plenty of the pioneers would still do okay. It wouldnt be a blowout for fighters like Vitor Belfort, Severn maybe Tito and Chael.

Here is one for you. PADDY versus Sean Sherk. I'm a paddy fan but I don't know about that one.

 

[Private Whatley]

Im not disputing what you’re saying entirely but the NBA, just like MMA, has changed the rules over the years. A big reason MJ was so dominant in the 90s was a call, you never see anymore…‘Illegal defense.’ Basically, it was called on teams that played zone defense, and forced one on one play. That’s part of the reason why Phil Jackson’s triangle was effective. It turned the Bull’s point guard in to a spot up shooter, and allowed Pippen and Jordan to dominate. Now a days, zone defense is more acceptable, 2002 onwards. And they combat that with more college style play, emphasis on 3 point bombs and more screens to free shooters. Don’t take my word for it….

View attachment 1006849

By the same token, the new hand check rules have enabled guards and perimeter players to beat opposing defenders on drives and find clear long distance and midrange shots without having to battle as hard. Guys like Luka, Ja, SGA, Anthony Edwards, and prime James Harden have proven to be walking buckets with the present ruleset and Jordan had better physical attributes and fundamentals than all of them. He was faster and more explosive than Luka, Harden, and SGA and he was taller and longer than JA and Ant with more moves in his toolkit. I don’t know about the rest of the bulls, but Jordan would have been unstoppable in today’s league perhaps even more so than in the 80’s and 90’s which is saying a lot.

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

Todays WBW could probably beat a majority of of WBW back then all though the division has always been bad

 

[joey gerbils]

No, I don't think Parker Porter can beat Fedor

Porker Portley

 

[Ianstaine]

If you took any team today and put them back in the 90s under those rulesets, the bulls would win by 50 and other teams would be carted out lol. That logic can go both ways

 

[ImLovinIt]

I would say that MMA as a newer sport has evolved more rapidly due to the integration of fighters being well versed in all aspects of MMA compared to the early UFC days where a lot of fighters were 1 dimensional. But that would be fighters in the 90s and early 2000s. I do not believe Tito Ortiz would be a top 5 LHW today, even in his prime.

He did ko Ryan Bader. Lol

 

[Aluminati]

You absolutely have a point, but the perimeter players of today would be hell for any era. The size of these guys is crazy. Jordan is still probably the greatest player ever, but Lebron, Giannis, and Kevin Durant would give him all he could handle. Jordan was a dominant 6-6 guard in his time. Lebron is the size of Karl Malone with Magic Johnson skill. Giannis and Kevin are 6-11, 7 footers. Ain’t blocking their shots unless they are in the lane.

Rodman fucking spanks any of those soft ass dudes though. He was a huge part of their success.

 

[Aluminati]

If you took any team today and put them back in the 90s under those rulesets, the bulls would win by 50 and other teams would be carted out lol. That logic can go both ways

Right? Rodman may look fruity, but that fucking animal beat the shit out of people in the paint.

 

[Thai Domi]

2000s Fedor kills anyone from this or any other era.

 

[ocfightfan]

Do people actually think this^^>?

And what rules are we playing with?

Was going to say that it's nonsense because no team today has to put up with the Bad Boys era Detroit Pistons chopping them in the throat every time they get in the paint.

 

[DapperDave]

You absolutely have a point, but the perimeter players of today would be hell for any era. The size of these guys is crazy. Jordan is still probably the greatest player ever, but Lebron, Giannis, and Kevin Durant would give him all he could handle. Jordan was a dominant 6-6 guard in his time. Lebron is the size of Karl Malone with Magic Johnson skill. Giannis and Kevin are 6-11, 7 footers. Ain’t blocking their shots unless they are in the lane.

I see your delusion and raise you a reality:

Since the era in question, NOBODY in the NBA has matched the skill of the players who changed the game back then.

Jordan would make your Lebrons look stupid. Rodman would make them cry. Pippen would freak them out.

Crazy a thread like this makes 10 pages.