Basketball is pretty much at a historic peak in terms of talent right now. The amount of people playing and wanting to be basketball stars and the money in it for the athletes are at all time highs. Damn, the best 5 players are ALL foreign born - Jokic, Embiid, Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic and Antetokounmpo. This was unimaginable in prior eras. The game got a lot more global post dream team era when at that time the rest of world were a collection of cans for the most part. The depth of shooting is at an all-time high -
it's not like there are less American players now with hoop dreams. The defense is rather hampered because the league wants offense because offense sells. One can argue that it's not optimal from a purists perspective, but it's foolish to deny the NBA has ever been more talent rich.