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Appearing on the Road Trippin’ podcast, he claims that the constant comparisons to stars from yesteryear are a detriment to the league:
“Nostalgia is killing the NBA! The 90s basketball — Michael Jordan and Kobe [Bryant] — was not as clean as ya’ll think it was. You forget that Jordan left the league for two years. You forget that Kobe, rest in peace, quit on his team in the playoffs and did not shoot the basketball.”
The discourse over who could be the ‘face of the league’ was re-ignited during the 2025 All-Star weekend, when Anthony Edwards denied wanting to have that title. According to Frye, it’s not a mystery why these players shy away from that:
“So all this Kobe/Jordan — oh, he’s not this, he’s not that — is propaganda. Every great player, Ant, Wemby, Bron, Steph. You know who they compare them to? A m********er from 40 years ago!
The rules weren’t even the same. Nobody celebrates these new people, so why would anybody want to be the face of this league? You’re gonna get s*** on by the networks for not being someone from 40 years ago. It’s ridiculous.”
In light of the news that the NBA was suffering from low ratings and lower fan engagement in 2025, the league has begun exploring ideas to stimulate more viewership. Factors such as ticket prices and local television blackouts certainly don’t help, but the league primarily believes there are too many three-point shots being taken.
Frye’s point about rule changes emphasizes that 90s basketball was more about physical, isolation-heavy styles while the modern game emphasizes pace, creating space, and three-point shooting. Today’s stars adapt to the game in an analytical way that Jordan or Bryant didn’t necessarily have to. Therefore, fans would do better to appreciate talents like Steph or LeBron without the shadow of “but he’s not MJ” hanging over them.
