‘Hybrids’ taking over the NBA

By Brad Minkow
April 8, 2008

Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing are heading to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. And as the doors open wide for these seven-foot giants, the doors will soon close for many “big men” of the future. Olajuwon and Ewing not only represent two great basketball legends, but also a dying breed of power forwards and centers who transcended the game and stood at the pinnacle of NBA prominence.

Decades ago, the NBA was built around Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and others, when forwards and centers dictated and dominated the game. As professional basketball evolved, different “big men,” such as Olajuwon, Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo, would share the spotlight with quicker, more dazzling guards, like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

Now, as the NBA is hitting a new millennium and a different generation, the importance and perception of post-players has plummeted in a game featuring soaring guards and sharp-shooting small forwards.

So where have the power forwards and centers gone?

While some “big men” have been overshadowed, the ones who still command national attention have altered their job description to fit the new NBA model: hybrid “big men.”

Of the top 20 scorers in the NBA this season, only five play the power forward or center positions. And for those five, including Dirk Nowitzki and Amare Stoudemire, a 15-foot jumper has become as common, if not more frequent, than a post-up shot in the paint.

It is not that NBA “big men” are becoming weaker, more cowardly or lazy, but they have found that the key to success and popularity is conforming to a more spread out, guard-oriented game.And by doing so, conforming “big men” have reaped the rewards. In the last seven years, four NBA Most Valuable Player awards have been awarded to power forwards: Tim Duncan (twice), Kevin Garnett and Nowitzki. These three players will collect rebounds and some blocks, but unlike years past, they will also take the last-second shots — and make them.

But despite the efforts of Duncan and his fellow forwards, popularity is still favoring guards at an expedited rate.

In terms of NBA jersey sales, only two power forwards or centers rank in the Top 10, with zero in the Top 5. Of the 14 players to receive 1 million or more votes for this year’s NBA All-Star Game, only five were “big men,” with three being Duncan, Garnett and Nowitzki.

Of the current generation of players, the lone exception to current trends is Shaquille O’Neal, but at the end of his career, he and the Phoenix Suns are quickly learning that O’Neal’s once prevailing post-presence is something of the past.

Fans no longer look for a dominating hook shot or tip-in, now craving 3-point shots from “too-far downtown” and captivating dunks. To be popular and big is becoming an oxymoron to those who refuse to make free throws or outside shots.

The NBA has become bigger, better and stronger. Ask yourself whom you would take: the shorter LeBron James or the taller Ben Wallace?

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