John Salley was a journeyman throughout his tenure in the NBA, spending time with five other teams after playing his first six years with the Detroit “Bad Boy” Pistons. The former big man had the opportunity to play with several legends, including Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Scottie Pippen, and, of course, Michael Jordan.
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Having spent his last season with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, Salley certainly knows what it takes to become an all-time great. Since he played with so many legendary hoopers, it’s easy for the 60-year-old to differentiate them from the superstars of today’s league.
Salley criticized the current state of the NBA, placing due on the enormous amount of load management taking place throughout the association. There’s been a real debate in recent years about players from today’s era being too fragile to play a full season despite having the superior medical equipment and procedures at their disposal.
“Isiah wanted you dead, Michael wanted you dead, Kobe wanted you dead,” Salley said of the legends of past eras. “And then want to resurrect you and kill you again,” he continued. Salley shared that, unlike today’s players, the best hoopers from decades ago never wanted to come out of games, especially MJ.
“It was funny, because when Phil would take MJ out of the game, I would watch,” Salley shared. “MJ would sit there, and I was like, ‘What just happened? He has 46.’ Pulled him out the game… There was no way you were gonna get Kobe not to play a game, Michael not to play a game, or Isiah.” Nowadays, players take days off whenever they feel like it.
Salley even shared how Jordan once talked smack to Horace Grant for his inconsistent availability. “[Jordan] was like, ‘Man, [Grant] only play 65 games a year, of course, he’s gonna be fresh,'” Salley recalled. In today’s league, a player playing 65 games is actually viewed as a positive.
Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan discussed load management
Magic Johnson shared that he and Jordan recently had a conversation about how load management is negatively impacting the game. Johnson recalled that Jordan was adamant about doing something to push back against the league-wide resting strategy.
“Five or six times throughout his career, he didn’t miss one game,” Magic said of MJ. “We wanted to play in every game. Because if I thought we were gonna lose, shoot, I’m getting in there.”
A number of former players have been outspoken about the league-wide insistence to load manage. Players like Magic and Jordan knew they wanted to compete every chance they could for just a fraction of what NBA athletes make today. Considering the modern health tools that are readily available as well, these legends may have a valid point.
