As a Phoenix Suns fan, I always thought the old Suns did this well too---they just never had the Walton in the middle. However, IMHO the turning point in the NBA occurred about two to three years later, when the Baltimore (unPC) Bullets with Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld played the Seattle Sonics with Jack Sikma, Lonnie Shelton, and Dennis Johnson. Both teams were pure thugs: every play was one-on-one, back it down, power basketball. The game never recovered. The Magic/Bird Laker/Celtics came close to restoring that, but it was too late.
And today, if you look at the teams kicking our butts in Europe, they are predominantly white, team-oriented groups.
Those 'predominantly white' teams are playing for national pride whereas our team members are playing for their own ego.
The Sixers lost that series because they didn't play worth a darn as a team. Every starter on that team from Dr. J to Dawkins to Cheeks became at one point in that year a prima donna to one extent or another. At the time, Dawkins was immature both as a person and player and he and the Sixers got outclassed (basketball wise, not character wise) more than they got outplayed. Billy Cunningham did a poor job of coaching in that final series, but by then, I doubt he had any control.
But make no mistake: Walton and the Blazers were the benefactors of the Sixer's problems, not the cause of them. I think that team was the most overrated in NBA history.
I must disagree with you.
It is my belief that Charles Barkley is the father of the modern day NBA player. As his fame grew, he was allowed to use his size to back players into the paint where he had an advantage on anyone smaller than he was.
Before this time, if an offensive player initiated any kind of contact with the defensive player, he would be whistled for an offensive foul. That all changed with the arrival of Charles Barkley.