The NBA has come a long way to becoming a 30-team league. It began in 1946 with just 11 teams and by the time the ABA-NBA merger finalized in 1976, expansion had already begun to reshape the landscape of professional basketball.
But while the league has grown in size, scale and visibility, not every evolution has meant improvement — at least, not in the eyes of those who played in its grittier, more intimate early chapters.
Among the voices echoing this sentiment is New York Knicks legend Walt "Clyde" Frazier , who sees a stark contrast between the game then and now, not in aesthetics, but in substance.
Frazier entered the league in 1967, drafted fifth overall by the Knicks in an NBA that, at the time, featured only 12 teams.
Back then, every team was deeply familiar with the others. There were no conference imbalances, no unfamiliar matchups and no room to coast on surprise. For a young guard trying to find his footing in a guard-heavy league, it was survival by repeated exposure.
"We had only — when I came in — maybe 12 teams," Frazier said. "You play these guys 10 or 11 times [a season]. If you blink your eye, they know whether it's real or not. They know you're shocked; they know everything about you. So, it is much more difficult than playing 30 teams. Guys don't know anything about you in the Western Conference or the Eastern Conference."
It wasn't just repetition that heightened the pressure. It was the familiarity that came with it. Frazier wasn't facing different jerseys every night. It was facing the same faces — again and again. There was no hiding behind analytics or load management. Defensive schemes were learned through bruises.
Players developed reputations not through curated highlight reels but through word-of-mouth toughness. In 1970, Frazier averaged 20.9 points, 8.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds over 77 games. That same year, the Knicks won the championship on the back of relentless defense and a deep understanding of their opponents.
Today, with 30 teams spread across two conferences, it's easy for a player to escape accountability through geography alone. A young guard in the West might not see his Eastern counterpart more than twice a season.
This kind of separation can dull the edge that is used to define the league's best. It's the kind of environment, he suggests, that has made the modern NBA easier, less about rivalry and more about highlight packages.
If repetition bred mastery in Frazier's day, it also demanded adaptability. There were no designated shooters or rim protectors locked into niche roles. Guards posted up. Centers passed out of double-teams. Wings rebounded and set screens. The fluidity of roles was part of what made the game feel organic. That's another area where the New York legend sees the modern game faltering.
"It's more difficult and I don't think the guys were as talented," Frazier said. "I would say today, they are more talented, but they're not as versatile because today everybody is a specialist … They took away the versatility of the players; they didn't want you to do more than one thing."
Frazier was a superstar point guard in the 1970s. He was the Knicks' floor general, defensive anchor and often their top scorer.
In the 1973 Finals against the Lakers , he averaged 16.6 points and 5.2 assists while locking down the likes of Jerry West . That kind of two-way dominance was expected, not exceptional. And while today's athletes may be faster, stronger and statistically superior in isolated metrics, some argue they're restricted by design.
In recent years, there has been a growing influence of analytics but also the narrowing of roles. Big men are now expected to stretch the floor, but often at the cost of low-post dominance. Guards are praised for their handles or shooting but rarely for both.
The game has been optimized, but in the process, it has also been streamlined.
As an "old head," Frazier views that as a net loss. The romantic unpredictability of the game — when positions were blurred and instincts ruled — has given way to systemized production and specialized efficiency.
