The modern NBA is faster, louder, and more offense-driven than ever. Stars are putting up historic numbers, highlights travel instantly, and careers are increasingly shaped by branding, movement, and moments as much as wins and losses. The game has changed since the '90s.
We sat down with NBA legend Larry Nance Sr. to talk about today’s game. From why defense is no longer dominant, to how locker-room loyalty and team chemistry still separate contenders from pretenders, to his candid thoughts on today’s superstars and superteams, Nance shared his takes with The Action Network.
Key Takeaways:
Larry Nance Sr. predicts Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will "probably" win the NBA's 2026 NBA MVP, but heaps praise on Nikola Jokić: "I think he's one of the best players that's ever played the game."
Nance believes the Dunk Contest should still matter, arguing today’s stars should embrace competition rather than fear losing. "That kid that's been winning for the last couple years, he's definitely hard to beat…maybe they're afraid of him."
He breaks down the lost art of defense, including why blocking shots with the left hand helps avoid foul trouble.
Nance gives insight into modern stars like Evan Mobley, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, drawing parallels to past greats.
- He compares Dillon Brooks to a "butthole" he used to play with: "Hey, if you wanna play that way, good luck to you. I would never do it."
Nance advises patience over panic trades for the Cleveland Cavaliers. "So I hope they don't do like a lot of people do and panic and think, you gotta start making trades because they're not winning the way they should… you'll see how good they could be."
(This Q&A has been edited for brevity)
Q. You were the NBA’s first slam dunk champion. What was the crowd like at the first one?
Larry Nance Sr.: Well, I think the best thing was the crowd. In my opinion, the best it's ever been because that was the first one.
You know what I mean? And if you're gonna win one in your lifetime, winning the first one is cool.
It was just so special for me because I was going against Dr. J.
Every day of my life, once I saw that dude play on tv, I was Dr. J in my backyard. I was Dr. J on every court. And so to go against him was just the highlight of my life really.
And actually to win was just unimaginable. The crowd was really into it. And, we had great dunkers out there. And then going against Dr. J was just the topping.
Q. Did the players think it would become what it did?
Larry Nance Sr.: I think so. Everybody loves a good slam dunk. When I used to watch Dr. J do all those dunks and dunk on Kareem, and every time he cupped it and dunked Michael Cooper just, yeah. Dunks are still popular today. Yeah, it is great.
Q. V.J. Edgecombe for the Sixers was asked about doing the dunk contest, and he passed as a rookie. Why do you think it’s become uncool for players to do the dunk contest?
Larry Nance Sr.: You know, some of the stars today don't want to possibly lose, maybe, but it's just competition, man. One person gotta win, go out there and just have fun and do it.
That's one thing we did. You know, Dominique, Michael, all these guys showed up to do it. You know, you ain't gonna win every time, but it’s just good competition for him to do it.
Now that kid, I can't think of his name now, that kid that's been winning for the last couple years, he's definitely hard to beat.
Somebody gotta try to knock him off his pedestal. But he's definitely fun to watch and hard to beat and maybe they're afraid of him.
Q. You once blocked ELEVEN shots in a game. No one’s done that in 10 years. Do you miss getting to see shot blockers like yourself at work in the game?
Larry Nance Sr.: I'd love to do it because it's another way of dominating the game.
And that night when I had 11, you could see those guys… I don't need to beat my chest or anything like that… but you could see those guys before they shot. They start looking and try to find out where I'm at. And that's what kind of stuff makes me tick. That's what kind of stuff makes me go. I was like, man, I got this whole team wondering where I'm at before they shoot the ball.
That's a good feeling. And shot blocking.
I’ll tell you who's a great shot block is Mobley for the Cavs. I mean, man, he's long with a long wing span. Jared Allen is too. But I really love the way Mobley blocks shots because he reminds me of myself that he blocks a lot with his left hand.
Matter of fact, I learned that from my uncle. He said, if you block with your left hand, because most people are right-handed that keeps you outta foul trouble. It is and not a lot of people do that but he does.
If you block with your left hand when you're a right-handed guy and blocking right-handed people's shots, that'll keep you out of foul trouble.
I did that my whole career and it kept me out of a lot of foul trouble.
Q. Yeah, the thing I love about Evan—Mobley’s ability—is that some guys go chasing blocks, overcommit, and then it just comes back for an easy dunk. Mobley, though, can maintain his space. He’s not just chasing blocks.
His defensive presence is really impressive.
Larry Nance Sr.: I agree 100% with you. And that's one thing I used to try to work on- like could I stay on my man until I make sure that guard or whoever would commit and still be quick enough to get over there and get my hands on it.
And Mobley can do that. He's so long and so fast that he can wait, wait, wait, wait till that guy commits to the shot and then get his hands on it. That right there is a serious talent. 'cause most people usually just commit all out and then they drop it off to his man, then this man scores.
It’s kind of a special art to be able to do that.
Q. You not only were a multi-time All-Star and multi-time All-Defense guy, but you put those together in your second to last season. It speaks to how the standard for All-Stars has changed. Why was the standard for guys to play at such a high level on both ends so different then?
Larry Nance Sr.: That’s a tough one to answer because scoring is where a lot of these guys get in the league and that’s what they specialize in.
But my uncle—same uncle who told me about left hand blocking—was like, “If you can do everything on the court that make you, they can never take you off the court because sometimes you gonna miss shots, but they won't take you off the court because you could play defense and you can get back and hustle and, and, and work hard.”
So he always said learn how to play everything and be good at it and you always stay on the court.
And that was one of my main goals, man. I hated to come off that court at all costs. So if I could do any little thing like play defense and block some shots and get out there and make them little jumpers at the same time, that keeps me out there.
And I, you know, for the most part, a lot of the games I didn't come out.
Q. Everyone’s talked to you about your drag racing. I have to ask if you’re still getting out to work on the Camaro from time to time?
Larry Nance Sr.: Dude, now we can talk about this the rest of the day.
I love my drag racing. So my main street car is a ‘67 Camaro. It's got a 600 cubic case, big block Chevy in it, and it's got about 900 horse. So I drive it on on the street.
And then we still have the Catch 22 Camaro. Which my wife is probably mad about man 'cause it's hard to afford. And drag racing is definitely expensive.
We race that here in Ohio. I don't drive it anymore, but my driver, Pat Moore still drives that car.
I work on it, it's sitting in my garage right as we speak, and the motor's being rebuilt. Iit don't have the top of the line pieces in it. It, and it is not as fast as it used to be, but it gives me something to work on.
I love it. My father was a mechanic. I went to high school to be a mechanic. And that's what I thought I was going be. And then basketball got in the way and that paid a little bit more than being a mechanic.
But I still love racing and my wife keep wondering when I'm gonna outgrow it. And I just don't think that's gonna happen. 'cause I just still love to work on my car and I love racing an awful lot.
Q. I think we underestimate the relationships that stars build with cities, and you are a perfect example. You weren’t even drafted by the Cavs, but are an absolute legend there and you’ve built this strong community connection, your son has built his own there as well. What’s the part that gets missed in all the headlines about the relationship between stars and their communities?
Larry Nance Sr.: Yep. Yeah. Let’s back up for a minute.
When I was in Phoenix, the day I got traded, it was 85 degrees and beautiful. Then I came here—snow everywhere. I thought it was going to be the worst thing that ever happened to me. But then I met my teammates, I met the fans… and honestly, everybody thinks they’ve got the best fans in the world. I truly believe we have the best fans in the world.
And then all the fans that I met, a bunch of 'em became friends. So me, my wife, we decided to raise our kids here. Our kids love it. The team treated me great. I had the best teammates in the world, best owners, and we still stay here.
And Larry Junior lives here, he wants to raise his kids here. Pete wants to live here. My daughter- we all still live in Ohio.
It ain't the weather, but other than that, everything is perfect. Everything is really nice.
One of the good things is Larry got this, I think it's like 22 acres, and he wants to have a compound, man.
We got three grandkids right now, and if we all move on that I'm gonna be one happy grandpa. We love it here and it's got a lot to do with the people we've met when we've been here.
Q. The Suns had WAY more talent last year but they were just not a connected team. This team plays together and with a lot of heart. We talk so much about talent in the NBA, do we lose sight of what 'playing as a team' can do for a franchise?
Larry Nance Sr.: I know you asked me about the Suns, but then I'm gonna wanna compare 'em to our old team.
And we used to play, and the way people love that team is it never mattered who was gonna be the leading scorer. We just knew how to be smart. And we were like, whoever the hot guy is, got the ball. And we were never ever selfish. And if you get a team that just plays, that makes good decisions.
I mean, Booker is such a great player. I enjoy watching him. He scores so easy and he is good when he gets going. But it's good to realize that and play off him and then everybody else can get theirs. Any team that plays together well will be successful. Golden State can do that.
I don't mean you're gonna win the championship, but it's good basketball and fans will appreciate that.
Q. Dillon Brooks brings an edge that divides opinion. How valuable are players like that to teams trying to win in the playoffs? Would Dillon have made it in the 90’s?
Larry Nance Sr.: Well. That's not my cup of tea, that's not the way I could ever play. But I had to go against a butthole named Rick Mahorn. You know, so, and if he was sitting right beside me right now, he’d know I would call him a butthole. But he made a career off that.
It's funny how, how Dillon Brooks, he'd just gets into people's skin.
Hey, if you wanna play that way, good luck to you. I would never do it. But some players have been successful. Now Rick used to do me that way, and I wanted to prove I was a man, and then I always tried to back up against him.
Well, all you gotta do is think here. He's trying to get in your head. And it took me too long to figure that out because once I figured it out, it wasn't that bad because I was faster and quicker- and probably a better athlete and a better player than Mahorn. But if I play his game, that’s taking me out of my game. And it took me too long to figure that out.
But I did figure it out near the end and had some success with him. But he used to gimme a fit. He used to gimme a fit.
Q. The Cavs had this incredible season last year, but then got hurt in the playoffs. Now they’re kind of struggling. What is it that makes teams with the same players struggle just a year after so much success?
Larry Nance Sr.: Well, I think the struggle has been, everybody's not healthy. No matter what team you have, if everybody's not healthy, then you can't understand how good that team can be.
So the Cavs. This is my opinion right now. I think the Cavs are doing it backwards. Get all those injuries in early and make the run at the end and be healthy. And then you'll see how good they can be because they are a really good team.
Darius was hurt with his toe and my son was out with his calf. So many injuries have popped up that you don't really know how good they could be because they haven't played as a full team yet.
So I hope they don't do like a lot of people do and panic and think, you gotta start making trades because they're not winning the way they should. Just go through this little time and start getting people back and then you'll see how good they could be.
Because I think they are a really good team. They were good last year and I think they're a little bit better this year. They just haven't seen it yet.
Q. What's your favorite thing about watching Donovan Mitchell play every night?
Larry Nance Sr.: He's so much fun. My favorite move about Donovan is when he goes to the hole and he carry that ball over his head and shoot that little floater. Haven't nobody come close to stopping it yet, He makes it 95% of the time. think the other day I might've seen him miss one. Every time he goes in there, he makes that shot. It just gives me chills because that's my favorite shot.
And Donovan is a pretty good passer. Couple times I've told him when I see him in, I'm like, dude, I didn't know you saw that guy over there in that corner. He is like, dude, I could see it. I see stuff when I go down through that. But yeah, he's lots of fun and I also love his pullup because it doesn't matter who's guarding him when he shoot that pullup.
Nobody gets a play on it. And you know who was like, that was Michael. Michael. You could never get a play on his pull up. He would sell it so hard that when he is shooting, he's comfortable, he is shooting all by himself. And Donovan is the same way.
Q. You competed against an all-time team in Jordan’s Bulls. A lot of people compare Shai to Jordan in terms of winning MVP and Finals MVP, the scoring consistency, even though no one’s MJ. I’m more interested in asking what it’s like when you’re going up against these teams that feel like juggernauts and how you put that aside to compete, or if you even need to put it aside?
Larry Nance Sr.: Well, we got, you know, back, back when we played, we played against Michael.
Then we had Lenny Wilkins, who I think was the best coach in the world. And when we were healthy, we played them pretty good. But you have to really, whatever your plan is, you have to stick by it. And try to make it work. But that team, they seem to have no flaws. They are just unbelievable in the way they execute.
And like you say, Shai is just talk about somebody that's fun to watch. I guess you gotta be a three point shooting fan right now, but I really love the guys that can get 30 points worth of tools if they want to. And he can do that, man. And every time he shoot his little pull up, don't nobody make a play on it easy either.
I don't know what you could do with him. He’s just hard to go double I guess. That's one thing, we didn't double Michael. And maybe if we could go back, maybe we would double it more than we did. But yeah, he's tough. That's a tough team and you gotta really have a tough mindset and hope you can beat him, but they really got their stuff together.
Q. I think it’s easy to look back and say, “Oh, they should have doubled him.” But I’m curious— why didn't you guys double Mike more?
Larry Nance Sr.: This is gonna sound like I'm making excuses, but I'm not. When we were healthy we beat Chicago six in a row. And then we got to the playoffs and we weren't healthy. And then they got us a couple times.
And the one big thing I missed, I think we get two championships if we didn't get rid of Ron Harper. He was the closest thing to Michael in the league. And when Michael went against him. Michael had to guard him because Harp would come back and attack him.
You know what I mean? So, you know that that really hurt us getting rid of Harp. And I felt like we weren't really a hundred percent when we played them in the playoffs, but they were a good team and obviously, they had some great players and they had that old evil Michael Jordan.
I got on some of his shoes now because they're pretty comfortable, But yeah, he was pretty great.
Q. Can the Celtics make a real run if Jayson Tatum returns this season?
Larry Nance Sr.: I think so. That's a dangerous team. And Tatum is a nice player. You never know, man, with all these teams, if they get healthy, you never know who's gonna make a run or who's not.
But it's funny how Indiana was making that run last year and they were doing really good, bam one got hurt, and that's it. That's the key to all the playoffs because OKC was pretty healthy. Won the championship. So you never know what's gonna happen, but health is the key to it all.
Q. What are your thoughts on Giannis and his ongoing trouble with deciding whether to leave Milwaukee or not? That kind of uncertainty can really mess with a locker room. How do you manage that?
Larry Nance Sr.: I agree 100%. I kind of put that on the superstar. Because he knows what he is going to do. Just tell your teammates, dude, I'm gonna stay here. You know what I mean? I wanna play with you guys.
He's one of my favorite players, man. You talk about somebody that if I was in a fox hole, I know he would be dead before he would let somebody hit, you know what I mean? If he was, I'd get in a foxhole with him any day. My youngest son, Pete, is in Milwaukee right now and he loves Giannis.
He says Giannis is a great guy and I hope he stays, but I don’t know.
The way I felt when I played with Brad Daugherty and Mark Price and all those guys, I would rather win a championship with them or not win a championship.
I just can't go searching for teams to chase a championship. And I don't know whether that makes me… I don’t know how people will see me thinking like that I am loyal to my guys I'm working with and we should win with that group.
So I hope Giannis stays and I hope they get what he needs to win because he is a great player and a great person.
Q. Who’s your pick for MVP this season?
Larry Nance Sr.: I love the Joker. Shai is so good. And it is probably gonna be him, but the Joker, some of the stuff he can do is just unbelievable.
I think he's one of the best players that's ever played the game. Kareem is my number one because of the sky hook but the Joker just makes the game look so easy. And there’s been nobody that could stop him. I wouldn't be disappointed in either one of those guys winning it.
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