I know of someone who puts up with being married to an obnoxious Laker Fan. Yes, Mrs. @HCP is the GOAT!
Crap. I chose air Jordan until i realized i missed the true goat in the list. Whoever doesn't vote for Brooks has no clue about basketball. just sayin. Its Broooks. Close thread.
Jordan is the greatest player across the board all stats and facets of the game considered. he is the most complete player and a winner I'm not sure we'll ever see another season like his '88 one in terms of accolades League MVP Scoring leader AND Defensive player of the year Steals leader and everything else he did....... Russell is the greatest winner the game has ever known Kobe is probably the closest to MJ in terms of attitude but their is still a gulf in the achievements Wilt was probably the biggest 'game changer' The Bird/Magic rivalry was a huge interest driver but nobody has ever had the impact on the game on a global level that MJ had - combined with his career performance and statistics, he's untouchable. although Dillon Brooks is building...... not really
Absolutely 100% correct. I went to many of their games, you should have heard the crowd and seen the Blazer spirit. It was about that time when Sly started flying his blimp for the Blazers. It was a huge hit and the rest of the NBA soon copied it.
I voted for Jordan because I never saw Wilt play and Kareem was old by the time I was watching him play. I think a case can be made for MJ, Wilt or Kareem. People saying LeBron must be joking, or very young. In terms of sheer dominance it has to be Wilt, in terms of dominance over time it has to be Kareem, but in terms of greatness of willpower, pure poetry in motion and athleticism that would be truly dominant in any era, I think the answer is Jordan. I do wish I had been able to see Wilt play, because I might change my mind.
They were all great. You should have seen Walton in his prime. Awesome. The best I've ever seen but it was only a year and a half or so.
I'm with you that it's MJ but LeBron is the greatest in terms of dominance over time. He's already scored and assisted on more points than anyone else in the history of the game and he will pass Kareem in scoring alone by the time it's all said and done. Also Kareem only ever won titles on super teams. Him, The Big O and two or three other all stars in Milwaukee and the Showtime Lakers. LeBron has 4 titles and 2 of Kareem's six rings came in the last three seasons of his career when Magic was the best player on his team... LeBron could have a similar experience with AD, we'll just have to see. What we don't have to wait for is who has the most points and assists combined in the history of the league, LeBron's got that one locked up for a long time.
LeBron is great. I just cant put him as the GOAT and feel its unlikely he can catch Wilt, MJ and Kareem in my mind. He has one of the greatest single championships, but he got two rings on a Super team, one in a weird fluky year (Bubble) and then what I consider to be one of the greatest championships Ive ever seen when he best GSW almost singlehandedly. Hes the greatest of the past 20 years no doubt.
If you put Jordan on all the Lebron contending teams and Lebron on all the Jordan contending teams does it change who won any of those? I'm not sure Jordan would've won that Cleveland title over GS... LeBron was amazing. But I believe Jordan easily wins the other 3 Lebron titles. He might have beat the Celtics or Mavs and won a few more that LeBron lost. LeBron wins on a few of the Bulls teams. But I don't believe he beats the last Jazz team, and maybe not some other teams (Blazers?). As good as Pippen and other Bulls teammates were, LeBron has had more superstars on his contending teams. I believe Jordan wins more titles overall if their places were switched. I would certainly put LeBron over Kareem and Wilt though. There were 8 teams in the NBA when Wilt started his career, winning a title then wouldn't have been as impressive as making the conference finals today, and Wilt only had one impressive title win in his career. The second title when he was 35 with the Lakers had Jerry West leading the team. Then Wilt retired the next year. LeBron and MJ also had the positional and skill flexibility to dominate everywhere on the court in a way a center can't. If you put MJ and LeBron on the court together they would smoke a team of multiple centers. They might get out rebounded a bit or give up a few buckets in the post, although they still were forces inside. But on the other areas of the floor either one of them would destroy the centers.
I really don't believe in GOATS. I believe in 'best of their era'. Who dominated in their era. Did they have a strong supporting cast (drop in my eyes) or did they have to rise above a weak cast around them. If playing a team sport, did they make their teammates better? And so forth. The one thing I don't look at is titles. With all the collusion... titles are more bought than played for these days.
Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? This is a good watch for anyone who debates the GOAT issue.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets brutally honest on the LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan GOAT debate. https://bolavip.com/en/nba/kareem-a...michael-jordan-goat-debate-20210915-0006.html I agree with Kareem. He says it way better than I ever could.
Not close? Bill Russell won 2 consecutive NCAA championships, a gold medal in the Olympics, and 11 NBA championships (including 7 in a row).