Food for thought…
Imaging, diagnostics, and medicine in general improve over time.
IMO, players were more likely to play through “minor” injures because their earnings were far lower and less diverse. I’m essence, their “window” to accumulate wealth was narrower.
I’ve had this discussion with a few NBA junkies here and tend to push back on the the take that the past was more physical than the present. The players today run, jump, and make more explosive movements at a much higher volume than 20+ years ago. The pace of modern game produces more wear and tear on joints than the much slower post-oriented version of the game.