What if Michael Jordan was a rookie today? Where would he take the game of basketball?

What if a young Bobby Charlton was lacing it up right now for the English side? Would he lead England to the World Cup?

Almost every sporting league has an era which we are inclined to call its golden age. The  Magic Johnson-Larry Bird-Michael Jordan years of the NBA; the Joe Montana years of the NFL, the NHL's Wayne Gretzky era, etc. There is always that fond memory, that elusive achievement that makes us think that yesterday was more glorious than what we see today.

The question that we usually come to ask is, were those players in the past better than the ones we have today? Or - would a legend be able to succeed today? Every sports fan has toyed with the idea. The answer to the question, however, is not too easy to come by. Let’s see why:

First, there is what I like to call the “role-model effect”. Today’s players were once young fans of their sport’s top flight. They are bound to have a favourite that they have emulated in their childhood whilst playing the game. They have studied and copied every move that their favourite star has perfected throughout their playing career. Thus at a young age, they have developed a skill set that took the previous generation a full career to master.

It might have been rare to see Clyde Drexler “glide” or Michael Jordan “fly”, but today we are seeing an abundance of guys with these athletic gifts and more. Due to this, it is totally unrealistic to expect any player from the 1960s or 1970s to be successful in today’s game if he stays as is from his era.

Second, is the evolution of the game.  Some changes might seem like small nuances now, but many meant a whole lot when they were implemented. Most defenders in football needed a substantial amount of time to adjust to the rule which banned goalkeepers from picking up the ball from a direct backpass. Any defender from before the rule change would be totally accustomed to having the failsafe option to kick the ball into the hands of his keeper.

Now we are talking about bringing one player into today’s game, where everybody besides him is already used to today’s rules and game style. If you had a teleport machine and stole George Best from his heyday to instantly put him in a game today, he would be confused and uncomfortable, as the game is different today. Pele once stated: “The game has evolved beyond what we thought was possible”.

Third, there is the problem of comparison. How can we compare performances from different eras? A recurring question amongst basketball fans is whether the first Dream Team would beat today’s Dream Team. How do you compare those teams? Dream Team 1 was the first assembly of pro players at an Olympic basketball event. Their opponents never even came close to tasting the level of play that the NBA could offer. They were in awe as they saw their heroes live for the first time. No wonder that team coasted to a gold medal.

Today, almost every nation taking part in the Olympic basketball event has NBA players. Heck, a German player is now considered the front-runner for the NBA MVP title, and a Canadian point guard has won the last two. The fact that the last Team USA bombed at a world championships does not necessarily mean they are eons worse than the original Dream Team.  

Now imagine a scenario where they create a clone of Michael Jordan as a baby in 1988, who grows up just like MJ did (gets thrown off his High School team, goes to North Carolina etc), what if that guy would get to the NBA now?

Now that is a legit question, and an interesting one as well. MJ, besides dominating the league for much of a decade, reshaped the way the game was played. Imagine the true second coming. Would he have the same effect?

For starters, he would probably find the way to be a dominant presence. You see the really successful athletes have enormous talent, but they also have a drive and desire to win that separates them from the rest of the pack. But would he be able to change the game the way he did in the 90s? I don’t think he could.

I brought up basketball because there is a guy in the NBA right now, who is Jordan-like in every way. Kobe Bryant has admittedly admired and emulated Jordan’s drive, hunger and game. Yet he seems to be getting just as many boos as cheers. He is as complete a player as Jordan was in his best years but he simply has not innovated. I believe a young Jordan today would be just as dominant, but we would have the same kind of 'seen that, been there' feeling as with Bryant.

Through all of this, I have come to the realisation that all of the above does not matter at all. It seems that with our heroes of the past we only remember the good times, whilst we don’t appreciate today’s best and see mostly the negatives. At least until they retire, at which time we once again ride the nostalgia wave, and decide that indeed he was a truly great one.

You see the age old adage that Joni Mitchell used to sing is all too true when it comes to our sporting legends: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone!”