The following is derived from a story I wrote for Sports Illustrated KIDS’ November “NBA Preview” Issue.

You could say the center of attention in the NBA is less of the big fella. There is a point guard renaissance sweeping the league, from proven veterans like Steve Nash (pictured, right) and Allen Iverson to younger All-Stars like Chris Paul (pictured, left) and Deron Williams. These days, point guards not only carry out traditional duties, such as setting up their team’s offense and finding the open man, but they also rank among the league leaders in scoring.

10 years ago, in the 1997-1998 season, only one point guard (Iverson) scored more than 20 points per game, and only one pg (Rod Strickland) averaged more than 10 assists per game. Last season, in the 2007-2008 season, there were three 20-point-plus scoring point guards (Iverson, Paul and Baron Davis), and four pg’s amassed more than 10 assists per game (Paul, Nash, Williams and Jason Kidd). Make that a double dosage of point guard.

“I think it’s one of the best eras of point guards,” says Utah Jazz point guard Brevin Knight. “At this point in time, we have the diversity at our point guard position with players like Jason Kidd or myself who are team-first, run our club, do what’s necessary for us to win, to more scoring point guards like Steve Nash, Deron Williams, guys like that. It’s a fun time to see different guys playing the position different ways and still excelling.”

So what has led to this dual-role point guard? Experts point to four rules passed in 2002 starting the trend of a faster NBA game and engaging more perimeter player penetration. That year, the NBA enforced no hand-checking, no illegal defense, a defensive three-second violation and decreased the time to bring the ball past half court from 10 seconds to eight seconds. These changes have especially benefited point guards, as they are the primary ball handlers, to slice through the defense easier and create more scoring opportunities for themselves and their teammates.

As the point guard position has evolved, the term “combo guard” is used more frequently, referring to guards like Williams, Iverson and Gilbert Arenas who can pass like a point guard and score like a shooting guard. Also versatile swingmen have been able to transition to part-time floor generals, notably LeBron James, to whom Hall of Fame point guard Oscar “The Big O” Robertson confirms, “He can handle the ball.”

“As the rules of our game have changed, it only makes sense to take advantage of the freedom of movement offensively,” says Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. “Also with the emergence of so many great perimeter players in the last 10 years – Iverson, Nash, Kidd – you’ve seen the pick-and-roll used a great deal more by all teams in recent years. Offenses like this are definitely more popular than in previous years.”

In order to adapt to the changing times, traditional point guards, like Fisher and Knight, have worked on becoming more aggressive offensively to remain effective playmakers in the league. But they know that the point guard position will always be rooted in these same three basic principles: leadership, unselfishness and a desire to win that is immeasurable. Even the legends of the game agree.

“Putting it up and getting 40, 50 points is nothing if you’re not beating anybody,” says Robertson, one of the game’s greatest point guards. “I think the key that the guards have to understand is, what does it take to win? That’s the important thing. Anyone can play basketball, but not everyone has the knowledge of the game. And the true point guards have the knowledge of the game.”

Below are interview excerpts with Derek Fisher and Brevin Knight, further discussing this golden age of point guards.

Derek Fisher

Q: Do you think this is the best era for point guards we’ve ever seen in the NBA?
A: I believe we’re seeing some of the best point guard play, top to bottom, the game’s ever seen. Although the game has changed a great deal over the years, the point guards today are doing it all for their respective teams — filling the seats, scoring points, leading the league in assists, etc.

Q: How would you describe today’s modern point guard? What skills do they bring to the table?
A: Today’s point guard has a rare combination of skills that weren’t always associated with point guard play. Modern point guards are often asked to lead their team in scoring night in and night out, while also keeping their assist totals near the top of the league.

Q: The NBA game is much faster now, there are more fastbreaks, players are so much more athletic and versatile. Has your offensive mentality changed at all?
A: My offensive mentality has transitioned over the years from a traditional floor leader type of point guard into one with more of a scoring mentality. As the rules of our game have changed, which are designed specifically to highlight perimeter player penetration, it only makes sense to take advantage of the freedom of movement offensively.

Q: Who were some of your point guard influences growing up?
A: My point guard influences growing up were guys like Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Tim Hardaway and Kevin Johnson. My older brother, Duane Washington, was also a great point guard influence of mine.

Q: Who are your favorite point guards in the NBA today and why?
A: My favorite point guards today are Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups. All four of these guys do whatever it takes to help their team win games. They all have multiple facets to their game and, most importantly, they’re all great people.

Brevin Knight

Q: Did you get a chance to watch the Olympic basketball team? What were your impressions of your new running mate, Deron Williams?
A: Yes, I did get a chance to watch the Olympics and it’ll be a lot of fun to play with Deron. I’ve been playing against him for the last couple years and got to know what he could do. It was definitely fun watching him and it will be that much more fun to play with him.

Q: Have you altered your defensive strategies at all to stop these new breeds of versatile point guards?
A: My strategy is to keep them in front of me as much as possible, which is never easy with their quickness, and to make them shoot contested shots. In our game, you’re going to get beat; they’re going to score buckets. That’s the name of the game, but you want to put as much pressure on them to make shots with a hand in their face as much as possible. I’ve altered my style of defense for the rules of the game. It’s not so much the players themselves; it’s the way the rules have changed over time. You have to now give a guy with quickness, like a Chris Paul or Tony Parker, a step and kind of force them to shoot jumpshots and try to take the lower percentage shot. If you do all that, a lot of times that even doesn’t work.

Q: Some people would argue that guards like Gilbert Arenas and Allen Iverson are not point guards, they’re combo guards. But they play the 1 position, bring the ball up and set up their team’s offense the majority of the time. What would you consider them?
A: They’re definitely combo guards. They’re guards in it of themselves. I think when you have talents such as theirs, you can’t put it in a box. You can’t say, “Well, you’re a point guard and this is what you do, or if you’re a 2 guard you don’t handle the ball, but you come off screens.” I think with their skills, you kind of put the ball in their hands and let them make plays. So I would consider them to be not 2 guards, not 1 guards, not point guards, not shooting guards, just guards in general.

Q: Has your definition of a point guard changed in the last 5, 10 years since you’ve played in the league?
A: My definition hasn’t changed at all. I still feel as though for me at what I do and the way I see the position, I still see it as being the extension of the coach on the court, a guy who has to put himself second behind the team and other players, and the guy that a lot of what’s going to happen on the court is a direct relation to how you’re running the club. I think that has always been that way since basketball’s inception, and I think that will always be that way. It can also be a position that you excel at playing it that way.

Q: Have you altered your offensive mentality to adjust to a faster NBA game?
A: I have. I’ve concentrated more on my offense the past three years. In the last three or four seasons, I’ve understood that in order for me to stay in this league and be effective, I’m going to have to change my game. For me, it was to become a little more aggressive offensively, work on shots that I know that I can make and then when they present themselves, jump up and knock them down. I’ve changed in that way. If you don’t adapt to the change in the times, that’ll leave you behind.

Q: John Calipari recently popularized a system at the University of Memphis called the dribble drive motion offense, which is guard-oriented, spreads the floor and promotes dribble penetration to the basket. Do you see this kind of offense becoming a staple system run in the NBA?
A: I don’t because I think we’ve gone away from when the league was a one-on-one game. I think if you go back to that, then you’re bringing back what everybody said was the stagnant part of basketball – just watching guys go one-on-one. In college, that works; if your talent level is so much higher than the next guy and the next guy, then you can do those types of things. I think at our level, you’ve got to be a little bit more ingenious and not just say, “Well, we’ll throw the ball to the guy and you go one-on-one. If you don’t have the shot, pass the ball to him and let him go one-on-one.” There are other ways to keep the game exciting and not have to adjust to one-on-one. Toronto plays a wide-open game; there are teams that get out there and play wide-open, but it’s not just one-on-one.

Q: Who were some of your point guard influences growing up?
A: Magic Johnson. I can’t go any further. I did like other people. I really liked watching Terrell Brandon play. I think his mid-range game was great. But Magic Johnson to me was the epitome of what a point guard should be – a guy who only cared about his team. When they needed him to score, he scored; when they needed him to play center, he played center. Whatever they needed him to do, he did it for his team. It was always whatever he needed to do for his team, not for himself. He could’ve been an even greater player if he worried about himself, but it wasn’t just that. To me, the way he ran the Lakers was a joy to watch.

Q: Who are your favorite point guards in the NBA today and why?
A: I really like watching Steve Nash play and just kind of watched how he’s grown over the years, the way he’s kept himself in shape and what he’s been able to do. I really like Deron Williams. Him and Chris Paul are definitely the future of point guards in our game. Of course, the old guy Jason Kidd. I still like playing against those guys. I respect everybody and everybody goes out there and plays hard. I enjoy competing against them.

Q: How do you think the point guard position is evolving or will evolve?
A: I think we’re seeing it. I think we’re seeing all aspects of what a point guard should do. I think the one constant that it always goes back to is we need a guy that can lead our team and get us wins. I think that’s what it always comes back to. There will always be higher-scoring point guards and flashier point guards, but I think the basis of every team, teams that win, they always got a guy that is an extension of the coach, does what’s best for the team and puts himself second. And then after that, he can go out and score and can do all the other things. But he’s a leader for that team first.

Photo credit: Getty Images

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