I grew up with pro basketball, football and baseball. Saw both the Celtics in their Auerbach-managed '60's heydays - oh, those Bill Russell/Wilt Chamberlain matchups! - and lived in LA during the great Laker teams of Jabbar. But eventually dropped basketball after getting tired of watching big men endlessly dunk baskets in showy displays of muscle but lousy teamwork.
Nobody got called for charging or traveling any longer. Finesse in playmaking was lost; players could barely manage to pass a ball to their fellow player if he was more than 4' away. Free throws? A joke. It was just dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk. Bleh.
Finally watched a late season Warriors game this year. Hey, look at that! This team can pass the ball around with real skill! They run complex plays and are quick to adjust to opposing teams. And they can shoot - not just 2-pointers but 3-pointers and free throws!
Goodness gracious, it's a REAL basketball team, like the ones I grew up watching. What a difference that team ethic makes.
It's a different game nowadays than the one I grew up with. Imagine Bob Cousy or Elgin Baylor with today's rules...an intriguing thought.
But OTOH, in football we're stuck with the Niners, whose glory days are well behind them. Here in the SF Bay Area we love the former owner, Eddie deBartolo, and LOATHE his sister Denise York, current owner. I can always root for (and do) the Raiders, but we'll probably lose them to another city. There's just no city funds or corporate biggies to fund a new stadium that is desperately needed - the Colisseum is a disgusting armpit of a stadium - so sadly, I don't blame the owner Mark Davis for looking elsewhere.