I don't think you watched the NBA back then. You should have seen the fierce rivarlies they had and how intensely they would compete. Have you ever seen Jordan play? You can't guard the guy. He doesn't need any help from refs and the refs sure as hell didn't have any hand in making him a superstar. As a kid I watched him make spectacular plays game after game and he only got calls that he deserved to get.
You had Reggie Miller and the Pacers going at it with the Knicks who were about as tough as they come with Charles Oakley, Starks, Larry Johnson, Anthony Mason and of course the man Patrick Ewing. You had high flying Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton in Seattle. You had stockton and Malone in Utah and the list goes on. These teams fought hard and played with pride. You didn't see superstars coming together to get a cheap title like nowadays. They didn't care about winning the title just for the sake of winning a title, they wanted to beat their rival or the other guy to get the title.
Come on man. The NBA back then was awesome. You watch Micheal Jordan in action, a full came on nbatv or whatever where they show old games and you will see why other teams couldn't take the Bulls out. The guy was amazing.
A lot has changed since then. Defense is basically gone. Toughness and passion for the game is gone. (you have a few exceptions like Kobe, etc) You are entitled to your opinion but I believe the NBA has changed a lot and for the worse.
All that ranting and the fact of the matter is I still like the NBA and I still watch because I love basketball and there is still a lot of showtime and good battles to watch even nowadays.
