was the NBA stronger 20 years ago or weaker?

[Tha A]

All those 6'8'' people you named (outside of Magic, who I gave credit to), could not dribble like half as good as LeBron. They were athletic, but not LeBron. & you only mentioned the stars, not every team had a star. That's what separated the stars from the average player that most teams had, the athleticism.

& naturally, players will be better if they start conditioning themselves at a younger age.

& then you just started talking about "playing as a team". I'm not getting into the chemistry of this. I'm just saying todays all-stars would win this game.

could not dribble half as good? not as good, maybe so, but not even half as good? lmao. pippen? wilkins?... and no player today as big as magic could handle the ball like he could, lebron is the only one close to it, so? talking about lebron this and that, I said lebron would be good and never seen in any era, who else? and I wasn't comparing those players ball handling ability to lebron's, you were the one saying they were all clumsy big men back then, which is ridiculous to say. I only mention the stars? you only mentioning one star, lebron. the athleticism separates the stars from the average player? lol, what about the skill?

players will be better if they have a better combination of athleticism and skill, but you can't make a really great athletic guy with no skill at all or not working on his skill either into a really great player, if you have a guy with not much athleticism as the rest (of course everybody got to be athletic, this is the pro sports we're talking about) you can be really great, as what happened with bird, duncan... you also got to have other things, of course, like desire, ethic and focus but whatever.

I was not mentioning the playing as team thing in the discussion about who would win, I'm basing my opinion on what I  saw/see, on pure talent and what players did/do.

[Mietek23]

Rose/Paul/Rondo
Kobe/D-Wade off the bench
LeBron/Durant/Melo
Duncan/KG
Dwight/Amare

vs.

Stockton
Jordan/Drexler
Pippen
Barkley/Malone
Hakeem/Robinson

The only reason you're shocked to think that today's game would win because you're probably in your mid to late twenties & watched all those guys play & all those guys on the older team have some sort of legacy tied to their name that today's players are going to inevitably get.

You can say what you want about Stockon, but we have the PG position covered; I didn't even use Nash or Deron. Yeah, you got Jordan. But Kobe Bryant is pretty amazing if you ask me lol. Some already dispute that Kobe is better. We own you at the SF position. If you got back to like 2002-2003, KG & Timmy could be the two best PF's to ever play the game. You take the center position but we're beyond athletic at that position.

Even if we didn't win the game (which would surprise me), we wouldn't get blown out.

You wanna play this game? Let's start then. 1990/1991 vs 2010/2011. Your team is:

Rose/Paul/Rondo
Kobe/D-Wade off the bench
LeBron/Durant/Melo
Duncan/KG
Dwight/Amare

I'll pick mine then:

PG: Magic/Isiah/Kevin Johnson
SG: MJ/Clyde
SF: Nique/Pip
PF: Malone/Barkley
C: Hakeem/Robinson/Ewing

Like you see I don't even use Stock. I'll let Magic handle it from here. You got PG covered? Really? I'll start with slightly past his prime Magic but my 19.4 points, 12.5 assists, and 7.0 rebounds per game is enough I think. I also got the advantage in size and passing ability so I really don't know where your ownage is. Yeah, your guy is faster but I can go with Isiah instead and we tie in terms of speed but I still own your ass in ball handling so that means - no steals here.
MJ vs Kobe. I'll gave you that it's a close match up but if you wanna play 90/91 vs 10/11 season - I'll say MJ's got the advantage cause he's just entering his very best prime-time while Kobe's slowly leaving his. And I'm still up for the challenge to prove you and everybody else who thinks we're on the same level they're dead wrong. Plus I got the greatest 'will factor' in sports history on my side - that means you'll have to fuckin' kill me if you wanna win against me.
Lebron is a freak of nature - no doubt about it. But just because you build like a fuckin tank dosen't mean you're untouchable. So yeah, I'll start with Pippen against you. But since you don't know - we're playing 90's style b-ball. That means one word your overhyped ass faggots (minus Kobe, KG and Timmy) don't know shit about: DE-FENCE. Strong, tough ass defence of my era. No pussy ass fouls allowed. My man got some expierence here that you can't argue about while your superstar is chocking to death when someone plays 90 feet of defense on him for the full 48 minutes. Don't believe me? Check out series against the Celtics or Magic. Your hero looked pathetic in those games and failed hard. Nuff said. Back to the game tho - yeah you owe me in scoring etc. but I would use Pip just to crush your sorry ass like he did Mark Jackson in 1998 series. But I can also play you using 'The Human Highlight Film". Now we're tie in jumping ability and the so-called 'athletic creativity' and we're pretty close in points and rebounds. Now we got Duncan/KG duo against Malone/Barkley. Again, playing 90/91 season against 10/11 my guys are entering their prime while your players are past theirs. Starting Barkley you'll own me in mid-range game that's why I'll go with Malone making 29 points, 12 rebounds per game while shooting 53% from the field with one of the best mid-range jumpers in history if your talking about a Power Forward position. Now the center spot. Your 'beyong athletic'? Really? I'll start with David Robinson then and please tell me - what can your fake ass Superman do superior to the Admiral? Dunks? Rebounds? It's a tie in all those spots but I'll tell you where I got the advantage against your guy. I take scoring ability easily as any of my trio shits on your ass in points, plus I'll make you look like a fool with my post moves and mid-range game - the area where you really sucks. And I don't even have to go with Hakeem there cause he would himiliate and embarrass you in the paint area making you look pathetic. I can go with either one of the trio and it's my smooth jumpers against your mid-range bricks.

So it's really I who would be surprised if your team would ever came close homeboy. The NBA today should stay for NO BASKETBALL ALLOWED - case closed.

[M Dogg™]

Dude, the 90-91 vs. 10-11 game would be in the advantage of today's team.

PG. Magic Johnson vs. Chris Paul
Well this looks like a Magic Johnson win, it's the bench that today's players take it. Rose, Rondo and Williams vs. Stockton and Kevin Johnson. Magic Johnson never averaged over 38 minutes a game in any season. Magic was great, fast pace but needed his back ups. And the 90-91 team doesn't supply that back up needed to hold off the wave of point guards todays players have. Edge: Today

SG. Michael Jordan vs. Kobe Bryant
The sexiest match up you can ask for. You have Kobe who is leaving his prime vs. a Michael Jordan who is not quite in his yet. Kobe at this point is a great defender, MJ is the dynamic scorer. You might not get much to the bench, but if needed D-Wade, who might match up better against this MJ, and Drexler waiting. Even: Even

SF. Scottie Pippen vs. LeBron James
Pippen is a great defender, might be better than Ron Artest and LBJ has fits with Artest. BUT this year, this year LBJ is on another level. I have never seen LBJ as good as this season, his on a level that I think Pippen could not stop.  Dominique and Worthy I also don't think can stop LBJ. Now we know this year LBJ hates going over 40 minutes too, so Durant and Melo are back there, and will also give everyone fits. Edge: Today

PF. Charles Barkley vs. Pau Gasol
Gasol is the best big man today, but his not ready for a Barkley in his absolute prime. In the early 90's, Barkley was a BEAST. Good thing the greatest PF ever, Tim Duncan and the Big Ticket KG are right behind. Duncan and KG at this point in their careers will be ready for Barkley. Gasol might start but he might get limited minutes. Behind Barkley is Malone. At this point in his career, Malone is entering his prime, but he scores many off plays call for him, Malone at this point was not great at creating points for himself. So well Barkley eats Gasol, the bench again gives this match up to ... Edge: Today

C. Patrick Ewing vs. Dwight Howard
This would be a classic bang battle down low. Howard I would argue can bang with the greatest ever, and he'd have fun doing it. Behind Dwight though is Amare, and Amare is coming into his own in this season as a down low presents, his not at the level of Ewing, and Robinson. I'm not putting Hakeem on the 90-91 team, because something named Kevin Duckworth was on the all star team, not Hakeem. Still, Ewing and Robinson provide enough down low to handle today's centers. Edge: Past

Overall the edge is today. It's a deeper league, more quality players, and more quality all stars. You have the right mix of winners who still win (Kobe, KG, Duncan) and young talent (Blake, Durant, Rose) and players in their absolute prime (LBJ, D-Wade, Dwight, Rondo, CP3) were in 90-91 you have few in their primes (MJ, Pippen, Barkley) a few who's best days were behind (Magic, Isiah, Bird, McHale, Parish, Worthy) and many not ready for prime time yet (Malone, Hakeem, Kevin Johnson).

[Mietek23]

Pippen is a great defender, might be better than Ron Artest

LMFAO! I'd stop reading after this one. Are we talking about the so-called "super elite defender" who got totally OWNED by a 40-year old MJ playing with a bad knee when he was in his 'athletic prime' couple of years ago? You compare that trash to Pip's defensive skills LOL! GTFOH with this bullshit!

[M Dogg™]

Pippen is a great defender, might be better than Ron Artest

LMFAO! I'd stop reading after this one. Are we talking about the so-called "super elite defender" who got totally OWNED by a 40-year old MJ playing with a bad knee when he was in his 'athletic prime' couple of years ago? You compare that trash to Pip's defensive skills LOL! GTFOH with this bullshit!

It's a way of putting into context that Pippen will be the strongest defender LeBron has seen.