Why Kevin Garnett Thinks NBA’s Game Currently Is ‘At Another Level’

Like most sports and their respective professional leagues, things in the NBA have changed over time.

Kevin Garnett, however, is fairly impressed by what the game has become.

Garnett, who retired from the NBA in 2016, recently got candid with The New York Times’ David Marchese about his thoughts about the league’s current situation.

In fact, he thinks the game “is at another level” at the moment and isn’t too sure players from his generation could keep up.

“I don’t think guys from 20 years ago could play in this game. Twenty years ago, guys used their hands to control players. Now you can’t use your hands. That makes defense damn near impossible. Can you imagine not hand-checking Michael Jordan? Naw. The fact that you can’t touch players gives the offensive player so much flexibility. Defensive players have to take angles away and stuff like that.

“But if you have any creativity and ambition, you can be a great offensive player in this league,” he added. “The fadeaways, one-leg runners, the one-leg balance shots — that’s stuff that Dirk Nowitzki brought to our game. And now when I watch Joker (Nikola Jokić) play, it feels like he has taken that Dirkness and mixed it with his own talent. And Steph Curry revolutionized things with being able to shoot it from distance with such consistency. Klay Thompson. Dame Lillard. These guards changed the game. I don’t know if even the guards from 20 or 30 years ago could play in this time right here. It’s creative. It’s competitive. It’s saucy. You’ll get dropped! A (expletive) will cross you over and break your ACL these days. The game is in a great place.”

Well, he certainly has a point.