Isiah Thomas. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

NBA legend reacts to controversial LeBron James comments

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jul 26, 2024 12:31 PM ET

For years, there has been a widespread perception that modern-day NBA players are more athletic, skilled and polished than their predecessors. Former three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams is among those who believe today's players would have dominated had they played in yesteryears.

On the "No Chill" podcast , Williams shockingly claimed that LeBron James would have won "15 straight championships" had he played in the 1970s. The comment seemingly irked former two-time NBA Champion Isiah Thomas, who took to X on Thursday to claim that the NBA had superior athletes than James in 1975. The Pistons great also called out the recency bias among younger fans and players.

I find it comical and laughable how some not all people think this is the first generation of basketball players that athletically could run and jump. I'm not sure he would be the best athlete in 1975
all things being equal. https://t.co/U9vsBfoHG8
— Isiah Thomas (@IsiahThomas) July 25, 2024

In a follow-up post, Thomas shared a fan's response to his tweet, which stated that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain would "annihilate" modern NBA defenses.

Great photos of unbelievable athleticism https://t.co/wZ4JiXe3tt
— Isiah Thomas (@IsiahThomas) July 25, 2024

Thomas isn't the first retired legend to push back on the "Done with the 90s" trend that has consumed social media. Shaquille O'Neal recently agreed that it's only "natural" for today's players to be more athletic and skilled, but that doesn't automatically equate to better basketball players.

"The stuff that we see in 2024 is way more advanced than the stuff we’ve seen in the 90s," O'Neal told Yahoo Sports. "So, if you’re a guy especially on social media, all you see is 2024, 2024, 2024, and then you see the 90s, you're definitely not going to be impressed by the 1990."

The 2024 Paris Olympics presents modern-day hoopers a perfect opportunity to showcase their dominance on the world stage. Can they beat opponents by a margin of 44 points like the Dream Team did in 1992?

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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