When did basketball stop becoming a contact sport?

[D. Bergin]

I do miss the smash-mouth days of 80's-90's NBA and old Big East physical college play to, but I also remember they shot even more free-throws back then, then they do now.

Fouling has always been a strategy, it's just a matter of what you can get away with, and walking that line defensively based on the rules in place at any given time.

I also remember people complaining that the guys back then should pass the ball more, stop hacking offensive players, stop playing ugly basketball, and get better at shooting outside shots, because it was more skillful then just being tall and dunking on the inside.

They began changing the rules to cater to the public's perception of things...and eventually, we got what everybody wished for, and nobody liked that either, LOL.