Follow us on Google Discover With the 2026-27 NBA season set to begin, this Kareem Abdul-Jabbar quote about Michael Jordan is an incredible reminder of how much basketball has changed over the years.
The NBA is entering the 81st year of its existence going into the 2026-27 season. During that time, there have been thousands of players and hundreds of stars. But almost none of them have shone as bright as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan did during their careers.
Modern fans think of both as GOAT candidates and true greats of the game. But the Captain was done playing by the time MJ was in his prime, making him a veteran legend to His Airness. And the way that today’s ‘OGs’ sometimes comment on the state of the game and how it has changed, Abdul-Jabbar once made similar comments about Jordan.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said Michael Jordan was ‘style or substance’ during the 1995 All-Star Game
In the early years of the NBA, the big men ruled the roost. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were arguably the first true superstars the league ever saw. Kareem was next in line, but as the 80s and 90s went on, the game began moving away from the basket.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played away from the basket in the 80s, and then MJ took that to the next level. Asked about him in 1995 at the All-Star Game, Kareem’s comments are wild to read in 2026.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 1995 All-Star Weekend on how Dr. J and Michael Jordan shifted the game toward style:
“Dr. J and Michael Jordan ruined it for all the big guys. Nobody wants to see somebody play with their back to the basket. People would rather look like Michael Jordan on… pic.twitter.com/Ef97AUXge1
— WiltStats (@WiltStats) October 14, 2026
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“Dr. J and Michael Jordan ruined it for all the big guys,” the Lakers legend said. “Nobody wants to see somebody play with their back to the basket. People would rather look like Michael Jordan on the highlight film than be seen shooting the sky hook. Style over substance is important now.”
This criticism sounds a lot like the things Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, for example, have said about the game after it became more focused on perimeter shooting in the 2010s. At the end of the day, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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