Adam Silver Says The NBA Became Too ‘Physical’ In The 90s

The NBA is as popular now as it has ever been, with the league emphasizing scoring, three-point shooting, and safety for its players.

Although the league is booming and making more money than ever before, some don’t like the direction the league is headed, as some retired players and older fans have complained the game has gotten too soft.

Some believe that the league has made it so tough to play defense that it has started killing the game and made it less compelling to watch.

One of those players that thrived in a more physical game was Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, who won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008.

In a sitdown interview with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Garnett asked if the league would ever consider bringing back hand checking to give the game a bit more physicality, and he responded by saying the following via NBA Central.

Adam Silver believes the NBA became too ‘physical’ in the 90s

(Via @shobasketball / h/t @RTNBA ) pic.twitter.com/Im6719HhZq

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 25, 2023

Clearly, the league wasn’t a fan of a more physical game and used the success of superstar guard Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors as an example of what can happen to a player when skills are unleashed, and physicality can’t impact a player.

There are two sides to the coin here, as it can be argued it makes it impossible to stop players like Curry, so defense takes a major hit.

Another example is Michael Jordan, who had to deal with the physicality of the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons and Pat Riley’s New York Knicks.

Few players can even be compared to Jordan when it comes to skill set, yet he battled through the league’s physicality and became arguably the greatest player of all time while being a force on both ends of the floor.

With the NBA being as popular as ever, Silver and company won’t be making many changes, but it has hurt the game a bit that it has become less and less physical.