With the NBA becoming increasingly popular, guys have more things to deal with off the court.

Michael Jordan played a significant role in inadvertently creating those “distractions.” And yet, while he said all the different off-court opportunities are great for players, the Chicago Bulls legend was also vocal about the negative consequences of such a change.

“I think it’s a whole,” Jordan said via MDBBall. “I think when you want to say something specifically about an attitude about the game, I think you should generalize it. I think everybody is guilty of it to a certain extent, but we’re trying to get that passed onto the Grant Hills, Anfernee Hardaways, all the new players that are coming in. The awareness is a little bit overblown, but it has to be so that the kids understand. They’re skipping a lot of steps, they’re coming out of high school, they’re coming out of college after one year.”
MJ’s criticism of young players

Jordan took the road less traveled in the NBA, as nobody had created the sort of shockwaves in the sports world like he did. Mike opened doors for players on and off the court, helping make the game of basketball global.

In concept, that’s great because it offers players a way to make more money. But once the landscape changed, so did the guys’ approach to the game.

“A lot of them, their maturity is being missed, so the emphasis is expanded even more so because they don’t have those years of experience. A door has been opened, and everybody’s trying to get to that door and get as much as they can, and the security that they can financially from a business standpoint, and I think they should. But at the same time, I think something is gonna have to give, and what’s giving is the work ethics of some of the basketball talents, and that has to be restored a little bit,” Jordan added.

Did Jordan make a good point?

Fast forward to today, and several former players have voiced similar sentiments, suggesting that they don’t believe the next generation of players takes the game as seriously as they should. Superstar players in today’s NBA are often handed generational wealth, with contracts reaching north of $300 million. But are some of these guys sacrificing their own success on the court to make more money?

Without as many off-court distractions, these guys could focus more on becoming the best version of themselves on the court. And even though many players eventually find their way and maximize their talent in the league, they waste a few years early in their careers learning the ropes.

The same was the case towards the end of Jordan’s career when being a basketball player extended beyond the hardwoods. So despite all the changes the NBA has gone through, one thing will stay the same—some guys will play for the love of the game, and others for everything that derives from it.