There is no way to ever come to an answer since you can't get the NBA players of today to play under the old rules. People should just enjoy the era they grew up liking. It will pass soon and a new "GOAT" contender, will come along soon enough.
Have to give edge to Russell. Eleven championships in 13 years, and unlike Jordan spoke for social justice. But you could argue Jordan or Abdul-Jabbar.
Siting the opinions of my older Bball friends who saw them all play from the mid 60s on, I'm going to go with the 19 time All Star, 6 time MVP, 6 time NBA champion and by far (and it's not even close) the all time leading scorer Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr as the greatest of all time. STOMP
Ah, but if you put Wilt on those Celtics teams, I bet he would have won just about as many. Plus, Wilt anchored two of the greatest teams in history - the '67 76ers and the '72, 33 in a row, Lakers. Plus his individual accomplishments are incredible. So yes, I have long thought it was Wilt, but truly, it has to be MJ.
The NBA changed about 15 different rules because Wilt was too dominant. They didn't change any of the rules for any of the other players (that I'm aware of). IMHO, Wilt is the goat.
To me it's Wilt ..nobody dominated the game like he did...maybe I was just young and impressionable when he played but he was amazing
I was gonna give this a serious thought, then I see the troll answer so I must return in kind: Caruso.
MJ personally put the lost stamp on us in 92. It's hard to swallow but he willed his Bulls teams to multiple championships and was the poster child of David Stern.
I still say it’s Bill Walton, Dave Twardzik, Maurice Lucas, Lionel Hollins, and Bobby Gross - my GOAT team. And basketball is a team sport! starting 5 of the 1977 Portland Cinderella Trailblazers who showed that teamwork wins Titles
I voted for LeBron over Jordan just because of longevity. 18 straight seasons of ultra elite basketball (so far). There were a lot of things out of both guys' control. Pippen was better than any teammate LeBron ever had, and Jackson was a better coach than LeBron ever had. Jordan had a certain amount of good luck in not facing a healthy Sabonis. LeBron had a lot of bad luck in getting drafted by the hapless Cavs. If life dealt them different hands the championship count would be different, and LeBron could easily outstrip MJ on rings. Fate can be funny. But both guys had complete control over how many seasons of work they put into the league. Jordan walked away twice, and after the second comeback his career with the Wizards was a joke. So he really only put in 13 legit seasons of work. LeBron is on his 18th year, and in not one single season has he produced less than 25ppg The fact that he put so much more time into being the greatest than Jordan did seals it for me. A lot of life is just showing up, and LeBron showed up for more seasons than MJ.
