Andrew James
     Staff Writer

The past generations of NBA legends are in an uproar. Rumor has it that today’s league is just a watered down version of its old form—that the current superstars might even just be average players back when they played.

One of the most common complaints is the decline of the “big man” in basketball, the physical, post-up seven footer that dominates the paint. It seems that in a tall man’s game, David has overcome Goliath.

But these disgruntled ex-superstars believe that the increased focus on perimeter game signifies the degradation of quality basketball.

Former NBA champion and Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (and apparent grumpy old man) singled out the success of Stephen Curry in particular.

“If I’ve got a guy who is great shooting the ball outside, don’t you want to extend your defense out a little bit? …I just don’t think coaches today understand the game of basketball.” Then when talking about the Warriors as a team: “They run one play. Well, maybe two plays.”

Aside from the major flaws in Oscar’s argument that should be obvious to all avid basketball watchers, that angry rant of his accidentally exposed something of great importance.

Shooting the basketball well does extend the defenses out, and that’s exactly why it makes teams so unstoppable, and why pounding the ball into the low post is no longer a viable primary offensive strategy.

In today’s game, offensive systems are less focused on the genetic gems that tower over the floor and more tuned to the skill players on the perimeter, which is not an issue for most fans—Patrick Ewing footage has never attracted as many viewers as Larry Bird highlights.

But that does not mean big men can’t play basketball anymore. In fact, most of the young-and-rising talents around the league today are 6-foot-10 or taller. Think Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony-Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Andre Drummond and Jahlil Okafor.

Of course, in today’s game as well as the future, big men have to evolve.

Traditional centers are still in demand as defensive anchors and off-ball players on offense, running the pick and roll and finishing strong close to the rim. But basketball giants that are more ambitious on offense have to expand their game in ways that have rarely been seen before.

Many power forwards and centers are stretching the floor with adequate three-point shooting now so that they can stay on the court without clogging passing lanes, whereas players like Dwight Howard or Andre Drummond sometimes have to be removed from the lineup for tactical reasons.

They’re exhibiting guard skills too, with the likes of Blake Griffin and Draymond Green often taking the ball up the floor and playing a bigger role in offensive decision-making.

The greatest evidence of that might have been this February when Towns out-performed several guards to win the NBA Skills Challenge, a contest that consists of three-point shooting, dribbling through an obstacle course, and passing the ball through a small hoop.

“This is bigger than me,” Towns said. “This is for all the bigs out there, with the game changing the way it is, to show that bigs can stand up with guards skill-wise.”

Towns is right.

The position isn’t going away, it’s just transformed. Tall guys are being asked to be less like prototypical big men and more like basketball players who happen to have a height advantage—more Bob McAdoo and less Wilt Chamberlain.

Of course, people will still complain. Just like our elders will always be here to tell us that we wouldn’t have lasted a day in their times—before all the fancy computers and cell phones—retired athletes are always going to claim that their era was superior.

But if the sport is demanding more of its big men, can any old-school purists really argue that they are dying out?

By saying that centers have disappeared, they are demeaning the skill of the promising younger generation, the seven-footers that are running the floor and shooting from long range.

That is a mistake.

Anyone who doubts the big man’s ability to still impact the league better prepare to be humbled, because there is only one thing more threatening than Goliath—and that’s Goliath as the underdog.