You could not play a vertical game, guys used to hammer the fuck out of each other. As teams saw the effectiveness and entertainment value, that opened up, but flying in for a layup was dangerous ass business then.

That was a long fucking time ago though. In the 80s there was some stuff like that still going on and we saw a lot of fights. Today the officials, the pay checks and mutual respect take care of that. It is very rare to see someone clocked in the air and when it does happen, heads roll. They obviated the need for fighting and reduced danger there. There is other cheap stuff that I think deserves a punch in the face but you're pushing a relativist argument devoid of fact or context all through this thread.