Disagree. A couple of rules with the rim and lane don't compare to what Jordan did to the game. Off and ON the court.
What players have fundamentally changed a sport?
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Disagree. A couple of rules with the rim and lane don't compare to what Jordan did to the game. Off and ON the court.
Cael is exceptional too. Gable got there first.
I had the opportunity to watch both Gable and Sanderson.
It was Magic and Bird that brought the NBA out of the darkness and into the light, Jordan took what they started to a whole other level. Before Magic and Bird, the leagues championship games were not even being shown live on prime-time TV, they were taped delayed.
Wilt was an unbelievable player, but he also dominated the league in a time when there were few big men even close to his size, which allowed him to be nearly unstoppable around the basket, that is why they had to widen out the lane.
LT completely changed the position of rush end, and thereby also affected the left offensive tackle position, making it a huge need to protect the blindside of the QB. When LT first came into the league, they blocked him with the OT, then it became the OT and TE, finally they were doing it with the OT, TE and kept the back in to help or have him chip on the way out. Then the Giants started moving LT from side to side each play. It was amazing to watch a team look to see what side of the ball he lined up on, and then run away from it.
LT changed the game of football on both offensive and defensive side more than any player in the modern game. Much like Bill Walsh did from the coaching position.
How did he change the sport? He dominated the sport, sure. And viewership temporary went up, but then what?
Jordan’s cultural influence outside of basketball is probably underrated. One thing I give him credit for is making it OK to just shave your head when you start to go bald. Nobody really did that before him.
Tiger and the Williams sisters are obvious to me, they brought a new athleticism to their sports. Chris Paul basically invented modern flopping in the NBA, every player uses moves he created.
Just throwing a couple stretches out here... Pete Sampras and the power tennis game? He was hitting serve speeds nobody had seen before when he came on the scene. Deion Sanders and the shut down corner, maybe? Who was the 1st soccer style kicker? Rickey Henderson blew up the stolen base records, and it was in vogue for awhile, but faded.
The fact that Agassi and Sampras got me to watch fricken Tennis says something. I believe @Angie was a Sampras fan while I liked Agassi.
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I think Halaand (soccer) is probably in the process of changing his game at such a young age if he stays healthy. His accuracy and power as a striker is something I've never seen. Other areas of his game where he won't be greatest ever but what he does is a pretty great talent to have.
Yeah that picture gets tossed around alot. The two guys in that photo have over 4000 points in their careers.
Gable isn't nearly as accomplished as John Smith. Its all about Olympic Golds and world championships.
