Guides / Decade guides
Decade guides
A jumpshot in 1965 and a jumpshot in 2022 are different skills played under different rules. Every roster in 99OVR is rated inside its own decade, so knowing how a decade played is half of reading its rosters.
Each guide covers how the game looked on the floor, what that era means for each of the six skills, drafting advice and the complete positional pool you can be dealt when the decade reel lands there. Positional runs can land on any of the seven decades; the Best Player franchise wheel starts in the 1970s.
The 1960sRussell, Wilt, Oscar and West headline a pool where defense is everywhere and handles barely exist. Learn which famous lines point at the wrong skill.56 players in the positional pool · positional runs onlyThe 1970sEight different champions, a merger and the deepest defensive centers in the game. Where the 70s pool hands out jackpots, and where it leaves you with nothing.56 players in the positional pool · 2 franchises on the Best Player wheelThe 1980sShowtime, Celtics green and Detroit’s Bad Boys, in a 112-player pool. Where the decade’s traps hide and which role players carry one elite skill.112 players in the positional pool · 5 franchises on the Best Player wheelThe 1990sJordan’s Bulls, a golden generation of centers and the slowest, most physical basketball of the modern era, with the thinnest big-man shooting in the game.114 players in the positional pool · 13 franchises on the Best Player wheelThe 2000sShaq and Kobe, Duncan’s quiet dynasty and the iso wings: a decade that rewards shooting-guard and small-forward runs and starves anyone hunting point-guard defense.109 players in the positional pool · 18 franchises on the Best Player wheelThe 2010sSplash Brothers, switchable wings and centers who never left the paint: one of the deepest defensive pools in 99OVR, with a hard split between stretch bigs and lob catchers.110 players in the positional pool · 17 franchises on the Best Player wheelThe 2020sJokic, Luka and Shai, plus a generation of six-nine wings who do a bit of everything. Good numbers come easily in this pool; top grades are harder to earn.104 players in the positional pool · 2 franchises on the Best Player wheel