The style of play and current players are just uninteresting to me at this point in my life.
The late 2010s generation doesn't capture the imagination quite like previous generations did.
So maybe the difference is you, maybe your own imagination got changed with age
nostalgia is usually tied to where YOU were at in life at the time moreso than what was going on, at your funnest years in life you gonna think everything around that time was the best shyt , you could just be a little more jaded/pessimistic about the entertainment industry in general now
Completely glossed over just how much social media played a part in demystifying everything too, you barely knew shyt about players lives back in the day unless a journalist presented it to you, alot of their "coolness" was just you assuming it was like that.
now you got nikkas embarrassing themslves on the Internet with women exposals, goofy livestreams, podcasts, fans stalking them catch em slipping to make a viral clip, alot of older legends wouldn't have made it in this era, had way less discipline due to more privacy
Any generation with all of this goin on is gonna have a lower view of athletes/celebrities in general