Interesting tweet by J.A. Adande saying that in just 5 years Kareem (Alcindor) won 3 NCAA titles, 3x college player of the year, 3x tournament most outstanding player, a NBA championship, NBA MVP and finals MVP. Because of Kareem the NCAA outlawed the dunk and he went on to develop the unstoppable skyhook. That takes a while to sink in just incredible.
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I think that is a reasonable “argument” actually. Heck of a resume.
Hard to teach height Tho too. Especially in his era.
He also had no chance against stronger quicker dudes like Moses, Shaq (hypothetical) and Hakeem. but he got his too. That skyhook Was an amazing shot. Most dominant offensive move ever?
Kareem‘s toughest foes by his own admission were Wilt and Nate Thurmond. Surprised you didn’t mention them.Those two were strong big dudes. Wilt was the strongest I ever saw in person. Jabbar at 38 years old! torched Olajuwon for 46pts.43pts&35pts not to mention Hakeem had Ralph Sampson as a teammate. No chance against them?
@rwc1952 Great player for sure, arguably the greatest collegiate player ever. Best nba player of all time probably not. Probably not the best nba center of all time for that matter, when you look at Russell and his championships or Wilt the Stilt and his ridiculous stats. But the fact that a case can be made for him is a testament to his greatness. And he lasted forever.
Such a difficult task to judge players from different eras. How do you compare Baylor to Lebron? Or Wilt to Shaq or Kareem or Russell to Hakeem?
Read it and weep....this dude breaks it down. And Hakeem sure did fine against Kareem in the 1986 Conference Finals sweep didn’t he??
What’s your point other than trying to run Kareem down. OK some dudes outplayed him when he was out of his prime and his best years behind him. My original post highlighted what he did in just 5 years beginning with his sophomore year at UCLA and then you have to start going off again. IMO that is still unbelievable and he is the greatest I have ever seen. You can have your opinion but that’s mine.
@rwc1952 did MJ get outplayed?? ever?? Or beat in a Finals??? Ever? That’s my point.
When Kareem went against Moses in 83 he wasn’t over the hill......
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Moses Malone sure figured it out. Swept Kareem’s Lakers for a ring in ‘83. Kareem was very stiff. Bruce Lee exposed him. Yes this is a joke. Is what it is. Still he has a resume without compare. I respect that. Not saying he‘s overrated.
But I am saying he wasnt flawless. MJ was Flawless. That’s why he’s the Goat.
Abdul Jabbar was one of the very best centers to ever play the game. He got beat by other great centers during his career, but he also embarrassed them on other occasions.
I think winning 2 Finals MVP 14 years apart says a lot. He was as good in 1985 as he ever was as a youngster.
Without question. He owns a Resume of resumes.
But topic of post was about being the GOAT.
He wasnt that....no shame in being “ONLY“ one of the all time greats. It’s called the HOF.
Not sure who the GOAT would be. If we limit it to centers, I go with Russell. Chamberlain was a more freakish athlete, but Russell was a better overall basketball player. Big Lew would be in the Top 5.
Ever notice how the NBA has so few notable centers today? Think maybe that's one of the reasons the game sucks compared to what it once was?
@Waldorf Yes. For sure. Its a glorified 3 point contest now. How many 3 pointers do you need to see before they get generic.
The Big man game added a dimension. Back to basket plays/moves etc.
Its like watching a FB game and they run the same play over and over and over.
It’s Jordan. Just ask Larry and Magic. They said So Btw.
Kareem anecdote, I was business partners with a guy who had a sports memorabilia museum (Near USC in fact) Honus Wagner card, original Babe a Ruth uniform, replica polo grounds stadium, the best private collection, maybe the best collection on the west coast. Kareem called to ask for a private showing, which we obliged. Kareem did have a precondition for his visit. He asked that no one approach him or speak with him, other than the guide tour. so when he showed up, we all kinda looked at him from a distance thinking, “what a dick”. My partner invited me to come Over and say hi, but I declined. We all saw him walk by and pretended to not notice him.
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I've heard all kinds of stories like that involving a lot of different celebrities and celebrity athletes. A similar thing was told to me by my nephew, who arranged some private shopping for Kobe Bryant and his entourage at some retail outlets in Disneyland. My nephew, who managed the stores, was asked by someone about certain sizes available in certain garments that Kobe was interested in. Once my nephew had the info, he approached Kobe and began to speak, and Kobe nodded to another guy who did the talking for him. I mean, c'mon. My nephew was just doing his job, he wasn't an autograph hound or groveling fan, and there weren't even any fans or regular people in the store. And Kobe still has to have a mouthpiece for that? Being that famous must really really really fuck people up.
@Waldorf yep. It must mess with your head so that you don’t even want to engage with folks for fear they are going to ask you for something. Kobe missed an opportunity to give a kid a great story to talk about. on the flip side, I sat next to comedian George Burns at the Vegas airport. I had not noticed him before I sat down, but when I did, I said “oh heck, it’s George Burns”. He laughed and invited me over to sit with him. We chatted for a few minutes. I wasn’t even a fan but he was so cool I became a fan. The first time I met Pete Carroll was awkward. We met in the parking lot as we were headed to an alumni event. I couldn’t shake Pete, he walked with me and Mrs bigballss all the way to the event. Lol. I hoped he would be a good coach at SC because I really liked him after that.
10-15 years or so ago I got to know a limo driver. great guy. Ex convict. He told me his whole story. He was buddies with Darryl “I’ll Kill The Judge” Henley and is not a fan of his. He was in jail for that drug enterprise.
He had some great stories about “other“ famous clients (like me of course!) Loved the Yardhouse founders. But one time he asked me “how big of an ahole do you have to be for no ONE to say something nice about you??” He was talking about Kobe and said he had hundreds of stories of what a prick he actually was. He was at staples center all the time for work and said the staff there absolutely hated him. Kobe would accuse guys of joyriding his car and scratching it etc. sounds like the guy your nephew met.
There is the media creation Kobe and the one regular People actually met.
That’s interesting about Kobe. I dont recall reading anything negative about Kobe. Or OJ for that matter. Before Oj transitioned from famous to infamous.