I was randomly thinking about Dame, and how we used to try to compare him to Curry, even though we knew he was indisputably a notch or 3 below him, and how his legacy will probably actually be more closely compared to Kyrie Irving's (recall the controversy over Dame being named to the all-time top 75 team over Kyrie), and it made me wonder what other players from the current era will have their legacies debated with one another the way we look back at the 80's/90's and debate Barkley/Malone, Robinson/Olajuwon, etc...
My name should be added. I have type 2 diabetes.....oh wait, debates....never mind. Although I am a masterdebater
While he still might, his career numbers and accomplishments make a strong argument for, LMA would easily make the HOF if he had remained with the Blazers. 1. The Blazers would have been forced to trade CJ. No way Portland would have kept 3 max/near max contracts. The Dame/CJ era was unbalanced rosters. CJ's value was higher then vs when we finally traded him. Building a roster around Dame and LMA with more assets from the CJ trade would have been easier than building it around Dame and CJ. 2. LMA's career would have been viewed differently. He came to SA trying to fill the void of a retiring Tim Duncan. A void he was never going to fill.
Here's one that I'd really not considered: Anthony Davis vs Joel Embiid. Davis has obviously played 4 more seasons and over 300 more games, but Embiid has arguably been better during the games he's played and at his peak. AD's a sure-fire HOF'er, whereas Embiid's currently just "likely". https://stathead.com/basketball/vs/anthony-davis-vs-joel-embiid
If Jokic has a few more years like this year I think it will be hard to keep him out of the best Center of all time consideration. Hell. He might be in the top 5 of all time convo.
If he has a few more years like what he's been doing, he will unquestionably be in that discussion. Nobody has ever done what he's doing this year (not even Westbrook 2017). He will likely win his 4th MVP in 5 years (equalling Lebron in that respect).