during the time when the NBA's athleticism and skill is at an all time high.
Athleticism? Yes. Skill? No way.
My thoughts exactly. Today's NBA seems to be about guys who can run like gazelles and jump like jackrabbits but aren't great outside shooters, ballhandlers, or post players grounded in the fundamentals.
I'm curious as to your window of "today's NBA."
I feel like Jordan's arrival was the beginning of a new era, one in which teams began to move toward highly athletic wings and lots of isolation play, and this trend was exacerbated by the decline of the traditional big man--old-school, post-player bigs such as Ewing, Olajuwon, Robinson, Smits, McHale, Parish.
Not that there weren't highly athletic players before Jordan (e.g., Oscar Robertson), and not that there aren't some good traditional bigs now (e.g., Tim Duncan), but I feel like the emphasis has reversed, with most teams building around the Jordan-Kobe-Carmelo-LeBron-Durant types.