Kevin Love: ‘It’s really amazing’ to see advancement of skill, development in basketball

Kevin Love: ‘It’s really amazing’ to see advancement of skill, development in basketball

While there are several skilled basketball–despite there being restrictions about how the game was played (i.e. dribbling)–across each era of basketball, we’re in perhaps the most skilled era of basketball.

The NBA has been infused with a plethora of excellent young talent around the world over the last several years, including Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and Anthony Edwards. The trajectory continues to point up, too, with 18-year-old Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, A.J. Dybansta, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer all knocking on the door.

Current Miami Heat forward Kevin Love, a 16-year NBA veteran who was one of the most skilled passing big men in his prime, recently talked with ESPN’s Myron Medcalf about the advancement of skill level and development from his generation to now–complimenting how it continues to soar.

“Now, you’re getting these guys that are 6-8 plus, 6-10, 7 feet tall, that are just really doing everything out there on the floor,” Love said earlier this week. “And I think it’s just incredibly hard to guard and it’s taking the game to a really amazing place as well, because you’re seeing these guys that are unicorns out there, guys that are really doing everything and refining their skills, whereas in the past they might not have worked on these things.

“The growth within the game, it’s really amazing to see where it has gone, especially in the skill and player development at an even earlier age.”

While I still don’t believe that players are as fundamentally sound as they once were, the skill level is off the charts. Outside of the aforementioned names, you have players like Derik Queen, Thomas Sorber, Danny Wolf and Jeremiah Fears who are remarkably skilled talents.

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Whether each of them put it together and has success at the NBA level is another story. The current state of talent across the league is beyond absurd–and the field is only going to continue to get richer.

That’s the beauty of the NBA, regardless of whatever people think about the ratings or how the game is played. Is it perfect? No. But at least you can say you’re watching the most talent-rich generation of basketball players hooping on a night-to-night basis … and it’s not getting any worse any time soon.

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