The Center Position Is By Far The Weakest It’s Ever Been
The Center position in the NBA is by far the weakest it’s ever been. This is truly outlined by the players who are in the conversation for the leagues best Center.
Demarcus Cousins, Deandre Jordan, Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, Marc Gasol (when healthy) are all names that come up when debating the leagues best Center. Think about those names, half of them can’t even finish games because they can’t make free throws. What has this position become? It has truly become a shadow of what it was. Legendary big man are looking at the league now and laughing, because it really is an embarrassment nowadays. Yes, the league has gravitated towards “small ball” and shooting more threes etc, but the position is weak also because we are failing to produce world class big men that used to dominate the NBA.
The majority of NBA fans will agree Demarcus Cousins as the leagues best Center at the moment. Now, I have nothing against Cousins and I respect his game, but let’s really look at this. Cousins is a terrible team player, his attitude is detrimental to a team, he’s ill disciplined, he can’t coexist with another superstar, he’s not a great defender, he’s not a rim protector, his playing style is erratic and he shoots threes because everyone is scared to tell him not to. To his credit, he puts up monster numbers, but it’s not even remotely close to WINNING basketball. Many people have DeMarcus in their Top 10 players in the entire league, but in truth, is he really? Or do people put him there because he happens to be the best at the moment at a particular position? Can you name 10 players you’d rather have on your team at the moment in the NBA? I can. All in all, with Demarcus leading your franchise, you’re unlikely to have a winning record when you really look at things. DeMarcus is a big, imposing figure, and don’t get me wrong, is no doubt talented, but is this the player we are really setting the benchmark for at the Center position?
A shortage of talent and dominance at this position is hurting the NBA, and the future of the true big man within the league is diminishing. It seems like the beauty of the big man was in prehistoric and ancient times to the new generation of NBA fans.
Attention Kristaps Porzingis, Jahill Okafor and Karl Anthony Towns. Please develop the way we want you to, we and the league need you more than ever right now.