From the era of the center in the 90s with guys like Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon to three point shooters like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson winning 3 titles in Golden State, there have been many eras in the NBA which begs the question, what could be next? There is no debate that we are still in the era of the three point shot as many, many more three pointers are being taken right now than in any other era, people like Joel Embiid have proven that your classic center who posts up, and gets rebounds can still succeed in the NBA but the majority of teams nowadays want even their big man to have a jump shot worth guarding. If you look at the stats for assist leaders so far this NBA season only 2 out of the top 5 and 4 out of the top 10 can really be considered true point guards. If you look at the stats in the 2001-02 regular season all ten players leading the assists category could be considered true point guards. We can certainly see a shift in the playmaking ability of big men in todays NBA. Nikola Jokic one of the leagues most dominant centers has averaged about 9 assists per game this season while the most dominant centers back then averaged 2 or 3 per game post of the time. In the 90s and early 00s the point guard was supposed to be the floor general and if your center couldn’t post up, rebound, box out, draw fouls, and have all the skills that you would expect a center to have, they weren’t worth very much, In todays game the mold of a traditional center is shifting, essentially some teams can almost have their center run point guard, being the floor general and taking the ball up as well as captaining the team and having good shot selection. Take Denver’s Nikola Jokic for example. He is acting almost as the teams point guard, as he has many guard skills such as ball handling, decision making, playmaking, and shooting. Jokic is averaging 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists per game on the season, nearly a triple double. He also just got the fastest triple double ever in a game 14 minutes in. Jokic is a superstar in every way, shape, and form and is even in the MVP conversation for this season. Minnesota Timberwolves, and Boston Celtics Hall of Fame power forward Kevin Garnett says ”

“The fadeaways, one-leg runners, the one-leg balance shots — that’s stuff that Dirk Nowitzki brought to our game. And now, when I watch Joker [Nikola Jokic] play, it feels like he has taken that Dirkness and mixed it with his own talent. And Steph Curry revolutionized things with being able to shoot it from distance with such consistency. Klay Thompson. Dame Lillard. These guards changed the game.”

Garnett suggests that players 20 years ago could not play in todays NBA because of how much has evolved and that could certainly be true. The era of the oversized point guard is taking over the NBA one day at a time. Be ready for the next era of NBA basketball.

Articles used: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/02/kevin-garnett-nba-today-nikola-jokic-steph-curry-damian-lillard