With the strike, came a change in mindset among the players. Until this year, it wasn't out of the ordinary to witness a star taking a pay-cut in order to keep role players around. There was an understanding that such "role players" were the core of the team (the stuff that held the team together). Such role players were Bryon Russell (jazz), Steve Kerr (bulls), Sam Perkins (sonics), and Sean Elliott (spurs) are just a few that come to mind.
Role players no longer exist they are now called "journymen." This leads me into my next point; pre-1999, the athletes had true team pride. Yes, there are still your Kobe Bryants and Tim Duncans of the league. The difference is, back then, most of the stars would be playing with the teams that drafted them for 10-12 years. A lot of time, entire starting lineups would stick together as a cohesive unit for all those seasons. Never would I expect to see stars get traded to so many different teams, nor would you expect to see enemies begging to play with each other. For example, D-wade wanting to play with eastern conference rival Dwight Howard.
The NBA is much more of a business now, with no city/team affiliation. Long gone are the days where John Stockton, Karl Malone, and Jeff Hornacek play as a team for 10+ years. The same can be said for the Knicks, Bulls, Sonics....I could keep going, but for the readers sake I'll leave it at that. The 90's are what were known as the glory days of the NBA. Such days are long gone and the new face NBA is what we will see for the foreseeable future. No more Dennis Rodman diving into the 3rd row, no more Bryon Russell calling out MJ, and no more dynamic duos like Payton and Kemp playing together for 10 years. It's sad to realize this, but it's what the game has become.
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