Re: Who is your NBA GOAT? Kareem, Michael, Kobe

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Apr 15, 2021, 4:09 PM

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Magic can pick whomever he wants as far as being GOAT and Magic has has always had an interesting "humble humor". That is a point there. MJ is never in doubt as far as having a case, or the case. I just don't think a lot of folks realized how revolutionary Magic was. He is the prototype of modern basketball even when the 3 was not widely adopted.

However if you were going to make me pick first to build my best NBA team, Magic would be #1 for me. Why, because the "point forward" is Magic and others follow like Lebron. From a sheer tactical "best player" there is no more valuable player. Magic can do anything that Jordan could do and then some. We worked better in team dynamics. But folks look at titles and playoff performances as to determine the goat so lets look at Magic vs MJ.

Magic played in more playoff games, (about 21 more) so take that into account. Magic, averaged about 14 points less points per game, but shot a higher %, had more rebounds (as a point-guard), is the all-time record-holder in assist in the playoffs. Jordan has a 0.2 steals advantage, but both are basically 2 steals a game. Magic had the better team stats but lacked the scoring tilt. Really, Magic nearly had a decade of NBA title runs only cut short by injury in '81, and Olajuwan chugging out 40 points vs Kareem in '86 - but really it was Sampson&Olajuwan vs Kareem.

If you base the GOAT on just "individual" performance, especially scoring, then Jordan is a more obvious choice. During Jordan peak, which is really about 89-93, Jordan strung together 5 season shooting over 50%. Magic did it 8 straight years. If not for his injury in '81, it might have been 10 years. If you look at GOAT from a team standpoint well, I think Magic has a case. The issue with Magic is Kareem as that era still skewed towards favoring big-men. In addition Magic had a great team around him. Kareem, Worthy, McAdoo. Really the only way to to avoid Magic and play big. Still, the GOAT always surround the team as well as most folks either point to Pippin or even Rodman (the most valuable stat player in 96), folks also discount the abilities of Cartwright or in Lebron's case, an often lacking team around him. Still, no-one faults Kobe for playing beside Shaq and a great team of his own.

However, Jordan never "changed basketball" - or didn't on the same scale. Magic did. Jordan's impact on the NBA was either how far you pushed isolation or really his impact of exploiting bigmen once the 3pt line existed. Still, he was a cog within Jackson system. Now compare that to "Showtime". Showtime does not exist without Magic even if he is not getting the scoring stat-line. You need a big-fast, point-forward and this style is still in use today (See Lebron's transition basketball). Not only did it save the legs of you big rebounders, it allowed magic space and allowed the likes of Worthy/Scott to operate at the basket. All you have to do is add a flanking shooter and you have 3point capacity in modern ball.

Again, part of the debate is academic. Magic gets overlooked IMO. If Magic was "fed" like Jordan and even a lesser extent LeBron, then I don't think he would be left out. Again, for some, scoring and titles is the GOAT, other look for different attributes.

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I see most on here believe Jordan. I'm guessing that the same people were ages 10-30 during 1985-1997 so it's only natural that they would believe it. MJ is, without question, the all-time most famous, most visible and most hyped NBA player of all time as he was the perfect player to cash in on the media/financial explosion ushered in by the Bird/Magic rivalry. In truth, Jordan was a ball-hogging scorer for the first 6 years of his career, failing and flailing in the playoffs each year until 1991. From 1991-1997 he had the best team in the NBA surrounding him, with the 1990's being the most watered down, weakest era (because of mass expansion) in league history.

When Kareem was asked a few years ago if MJ or LeBron was the GOAT he replied that Oscar Robertson was better than either. MJ fans like to talk about his 6 rings but Russell had 10 or 11 and Robert Horry has 6 or 7. MJ fans rave about his athleticism and his 48" vertical but Wilt was 7'2", 320 lbs., ran a 4.4 forty (recruited and maybe drafted by the NFL as a wide receiver), bench press over 500lbs. with a 50" vertical. About 80% of the centers playing in the Chamberlain era are either in the HOF or all-time top 50 NBA players, or both. Incidentally, Wilt's fallaway jumper was much better, and much more effective than MJ's. Most of the better players in the 1960's and 1970's (other than the great Celtic teams) didn't have many rings because there was no free agency in any sports until the mid-70's, after the Curt Flood lawsuit. That meant that they had to stay with the team that drafted them forever unless they were traded. Also there was usually only one NBA game per week on TV, Sunday afternoon at 2:00, by and large featuring the Celtics.

Once, in the '90's, MJ and Wilt were arguing about who was better at an NBA function. Wilt ended the argument when he told MJ, "Michael, the league changed the rules to help you score; the NBA changed the rules to keep me from scoring." Historically, both points were true.

It might be worth it to watch some film on Youtube of Wilt, Baylor, Oscar, West and Russell before automatically crowning MJ or LeBron as the GOAT.

Who is your NBA GOAT? Kareem, Michael, Kobe