The NBA has always had layers, but in recent years the top is VERY top, and below that is mostly crap. Basically for the last decade each conference has had one super team, maybe also a pretty good team that could challenge the super team, and everybody else is the dregs. The NBA has been on tape delay in the past, and there were more good teams in the league then.
We disagree here. I think the NBA has more talent top to bottom right now than at any time in its history. It also happens to be the case that Lebron is just that good.
Really, the skewing here lies with Lebron. He is in year 14 of his career, and seems to actually be getting better.
Jordan was in his second retirement at this point. Bird was retired for good. Magic had retired due to his illness. Shaq was in the “Fat Shaq chasing a ring” stage of his career.
The only wing player to ever remotely do what Lebron is doing was Kobe, and Kobe was kind of one-dimensional.
The Warriors are something like a disruptive historical force. No team has ever played the way they do and succeeded. Mainly because no team has ever had three historically great shooters and player like Draymond Green that can guard centers on defense and play like Larry Bird on offense. It’s really only been three years of this for them, and I think their window will close shockingly fast when it does. They rely on a lot of basketball unicorns.
I also remember the 80s really well. There were a lot of teams with one guy like Alex English - aesthetically pleasing All-Stars who had no chance of ever leading a team to a title.