I look pretty good in the staff/student middle school game, too.
Hopefully I won't get dragged too deeply into this but,....
at either guard position, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West would compare favorably with pretty much anyone who came along afterwards, and I would love to have seen what both *especially West) would have done with a three point line.
Centers like Nate Thurmond and Walt Bellamy would have been dominant players in the 1980's; 1990's or later.
I would love to have seen Jerry Lucas playing with a three point line. The current style of play also would have benefitted guys like Elgin Baylor, John Havlicek and Hal Greer tremendously
Three decades ago I posed an argument (could never be more than an argument) that a team made of circa 1964-1965 starters - Wilt, Bill, Elgin, Oscar & Jerry. Second team Thurmond, Lucas, Havlicek, Greer and Lem\nny Wilkens with guys like Bellamy, Chet Walker and KC Jones filling out the roster would compare favorably to the (1992 olympic) Dream Team.
That aside, I will absolutely agree that plyers today benefit greatly from advancements in nutrition and athletic training and each individual is a better athlete than he would have been if he came along in Wilt's era (conversely, players from that era would be better athletes if they came along in this era), but there is quite a bit more to it than merely athleticism. How good of an athlete is Jokic? Doncic? When they were at there best, neither Bird nor Magic would have been in the top half of the league if you ranked them as athletes.
