Former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams has seen the top-heavy landscape of The Association from up close. Now in his eighth NBA season, Carter-Williams has seen the same two teams in the Warriors and Cavaliers battle it out in four straight NBA Finals, and now, teams like the Lakers are set to become mainstays in the Finals once again.
But the NBA isn't the only professional sport where Carter-Williams has seen this unfold. The MMA super-fan joined Pete Hoffman's The Fight Fan podcast this past weekend and talked about the current outlook for the UFC's heavyweight division, where the cream of the crop truly stands out above the rest, much like on the basketball court right now.
"In the NBA it's like a new kind of thing where teams are getting really top-heavy," Carter-Williams said. "For a while there was one or two stars on each team, and now there's three, four potential All-Stars on teams. I think that makes it real top-heavy."
The same could be said about the UFC, though in the heavyweight division, Carter-Williams sees the wealth of talent at the top of the rankings to be a blessing for the sport, rather than a lack of parity that can sometimes plague the NBA.
"In the UFC, I think those guys are just so good man," Carter-Williams said. "We are real blessed at a time right now. I don't know when's the next time we'll see another Jon Jones or see another DC or Stipe [Miocic]. Those guys are all so talented and they don't come around too often. I think we're blessed in that area."
In the NBA, league-wide talent is at an all-time high, with transcendent superstars like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant rewriting the history books, and Carter-Williams expects a similar trend to continue in the octagon as the sport continues to grow, and with it, the ability of its fighters.
"I think in five or 10 years we're going to see some different type of talent in the UFC just because it's becoming such a popular sport," Carter-Williams said. "I don't think they've scratched the surface. I think we'll look back at these guys in 10 or 15 years and say 'remember when we thought Khabib [Nurmagomedov] was the best fighter ever?'"
For the full discussion with Carter-Williams, listen via the link below!
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
