A Slam Dunk in Pop Culture Evolution - The NBA keeps rocking its Eras Tour

“There’s room for role models who make mistakes”
-Taylor Swift

If you were lucky enough or at least alive enough to be a fan of the NBA in the 1980’s you got to witness one of the great eras of NBA Basketball, a decade-plus dominated by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Bird and Magic took their 1979 NCAA Finals feud into the pros for the next decade. The two teams would face off in the Finals three years of that decade, at least one of the two teams was in every single Championship round of the ’80s.

Preceding that swath of greatness and drama were the eras of players like Dr. J, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, George Mikan, and more. The sheer greatness and entertainment value of how each of those stars played – and dozens of other transcendent players like them – defined “eras” of the National Basketball Association as its history has unfolded. Each of them bringing a new audience to this beautiful game. Magic and Larry simply took the fuse lit by all the excitement that had been building up to their arrival, and turned it into a bit of an explosion for the game in the United States. With six MVPs amongst Johnson and Bird in that decade, their rivalry ignited national interest in both the college and pro games to previously unseen levels.

If Bird and Johnson were the first booster on that fuse for the NBA, the league was about to see the rocket fully lit for the 1990’s and his Airness, Michael Jordan. MJ’s transcendence included six titles in eight seasons, missing rings only in the years he didn’t play. If Bird/Magic took the league from regional popularity to the national stage, Jordan took the NBA global. His image, highlights, and shoes were found in every corner of the globe, making him one of the world’s most recognizable faces. West’s silhouette may be the logo of the league, but Jordan has been its true shadow since the moment he went off for 63 against the Celtics in the playoffs.

The eras of Hakeem, Duncan, AI, KG, Shaq, Kobe, and Shaq-and-Kobe came and went. Kobe studied at the altar of Mike the way LeBron and Melo did all those years later, but so many of today’s players cut their teeth on idolizing the Mamba himself. A newcomer to paying attention to the game might think the reverent notes for Bryant come from his untimely passing, not knowing he generated hushed tones before he ever even retired from the game.

Now, even wasn’t-he-just-our-rookie-sensation Carmelo Anthony retired last year after 19 seasons in the league, and same-year entrant LeBron James just became the first professional player to play in a game with his son(!), a literal Junior, no less. Eras now playing side by side. One more defining era of the league may be ending soon with the worrisome news of health troubles for NBA coaching legend Gregg Popovich. 29 seasons, 2200+ games, and five titles… so far. Best of luck with whatever you’ve got going, Pop. You’re almost 40% of the NBA’s life span. Eras indeed.

We Nuggets fans are even so lucky as to be watching one of the few players who will shape this era of the NBA, the utterly unique genius of a gent named Nikola Jokic. While it’s possible, and even likely, that the Joker will continue to add to his trophy case, his name will have to be mentioned as a defining part of this era, with the trinkets he already brings into the conversation. Three MVP awards, a Finals trophy, and a Finals MVP. When this era of basketball is finally in the books, names like KD, Curry, Doncic, Giannis, and yes, even Embiid will be scratched deep into that history, with Jokic very firmly amongst them.

With the league settling into the last quarter of its first century, the 75 players listed on the 75th Anniversary team included a couple of Nuggets names you might describe as begrudging, at best. There is a good deal of warmth-and-fuzzineth to be taken in knowing that the 100 year team will (or damned sure better) include a name that was proud to wear the jersey. The eras that have been defined by all of these remarkable players and coaches all around Denver will now also be defined by a slightly different status for Mile High City Basketball as well. Here’s hoping the end of that era feels forever away.