It’s no secret that the NBA is a much different game these days than it was a couple of decades ago. If they took a trip through time and were thrust into an NBA stadium right now. fans who loved the game at the turn of the century would barely recognize the action we see every night around the Association.
The three-point shot is so prevalent now, as are big men who are better at running and shooting than they are at pounding the ball inside the paint.
On Sunday, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made it clear that he sees Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni as the driving force behind all this change.
Steve Kerr on Mike D’Antoni’s influence in the NBA pic.twitter.com/YsfFzdQB2p
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 6, 2018
“The guy who deserves the most credit for changing the way the league is played is Mike D’Antoni,” Kerr said. He’s a guy who just eliminated the center position and said, ‘Let’s go small and fast and shoot more threes.'”
Kerr also said that D’Antoni inspired his coaching style somewhat, along with other influential coaches.
“Pace is the name of the game these days,” Kerr continued. “People go about it in different ways, but ironically Mike’s team is like the slowest in the league right now,” he said with a smile.
There is no doubt that D’Antoni is one of the most influential coaches of the modern game. Now that he has guys like James Harden, Chris Paul and Clint Capela to run his offense, he’s got a team capable of winning it all.
It’s going to be fascinating to see if Kerr’s Warriors, or any other team in the west, can take down the Rockets this year. Right now, Houston is well on its way to the Western Conference Finals with a 2-1 lead over Utah.