Stale predictable argument.
Most of those guys who joined up with established teams then were old, washed up, and on their way out of the league. Regardless, in those days it was the teams that built the rosters, not the players. Now we have young superstars in the prime of their careers, top 5, top 10 players in the league scheming with each other where they can go and play together. The best talent in the league is funneling to 2 or 4 teams. Not at all the same.
So you're okay with management acquiring players but if the players want to be on the same team by their own accord its scheming?
NBA players have always tried to play with their friends, Isaiah Thomas got Detroit to trade for Mark Aquire back in the late 80s....
The real issue is AAU ball and these guys switching teams to play with elite players (from all over the country) from the time they were kids. These guys have been playing with and against each other for for half a decade before they've even turned 18 let alone gotten into the league, that wasnt the case 30 years ago.
It's a generational "issue". Plus you add in guys like Kevin Garnett who tell the young guys that you cant waste your prime with a team that doesn't win just because they drafted you, means the days of Ernie Banks and Archie Manning, good players stuck or committed tobad teams, are over.
Kawhi was quoted as saying regular season games are the equivalent of practice and that the playoffs are the only games that count. The Kobe generation would have never had "load management" that restricted minutes and games. But people learn from the previous generations.
We are in a different day.