Who is the G.O.A.T.?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Michael Jordan
Kobe Bryant
Lebron James
Everybody is talking about the GOAT. Who’s the GOAT of this? Who’s the GOAT of that? Ever since I can remember, this has been the topic of debate in every barber shop, office breakroom, and social media feed. Everybody has an opinion on who’s the Greatest of All Time, especially when it comes to the NBA. As a fan and lover of the history of the league, my thought is this…there’s no such thing as the G.O.A.T.
What’s the Criteria?
One the difficulties in this debate is that no one seems to have consistent criteria. Is it rings or is it individual ability? Is it based on statistics? What’s the standard by which we measure greatness? Some will say it’s about the number of rings a player has – how many championships did he lead his team to. But that doesn’t work, does it? Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships as a player but rarely is he mentioned in these GOAT debates. And there’s a host of players who haven’t won championships at all that would be considered “better” than some who have. Charles Barkley comes to mind. Barkley never won a championship, but most would say that Barkley is one of the greatest power forwards of all time – even better than some who have won multiple. (i.e., Draymond Green, Chris Bosh, etc.) Robert Horry, over his career, won seven championships and I don’t think anyone who knows anything about the game would consider him one of the all-time greats. This set of criteria doesn’t quite work. On top of that, championships are a team award, not individual. MJ wouldn’t have won without Scottie or Rodman. Magic wouldn’t have won without Kareem and vice versa. Kobe and Shaq wouldn’t have won without each other. I could go on, but you get the point. Teams win championships, not individuals.
How Do We Compare Eras?
Another difficulty in this conversation is the fact that it’s almost impossible to fairly compare eras. How does today’s game compare to the physicality of the 80s and 90s? And how do we compare the athleticism of players today compared to the early eras of the 50s and 60s where the athleticism was undoubtedly not up to today’s standards? There’s also the problem of the playing fields of certain eras not being level during certain periods of the game’s history. Some would argue, the best players in the world weren’t even allowed to play in the NBA and were relegated to other leagues such as the ABA. So, there’s no equitable way to judge and compare eras. How would Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain fare in today’s game. How would Michael Jordan fare? I think those are fair questions to ask. But there also ones we’ll never have the answer to. Therefore, given the lack of consistent criteria and the differences in eras, I don’t think you can objectively say that there’s one player who’s the best ever.
BUT…that’s no fun, right? Nobody wants to concede that there isn’t an absolute best. So, if I were forced to choose, I’d say it’s probably Lebron James. As much of a Michael Jordan fan that I am, I think Lebron’s resume had surpassed that of His Airiness.
Does The King Now Wear the Crown?
I would argue that no other NBA player has come into the league with the weight of expectations that an 18-year-old kid from Akron, OH had to carry. From the time he was a junior in high school, Lebron James was dubbed the "Chosen One". He was labeled as the next great that would carry the NBA into the post-MJ era. The expectations were so high that anything less than a Hall of Fame career would have been a major disappointment.
Imagine that... Imagine coming out of high school and immediately being expected to dominate grown men who had been playing professionally for years. That’s too much to ask of anyone, especially an 18-year-old. Yet, Lebron James has not only lived up to it, but exceeded every expectation that has been placed before him. He’s dominated the league for almost two decades and arguably been the best player since the mid-2000s. It’s now 2023 and you can make the argument that he’s still the best all-around player in the league where he’s the elder statesmen.
He’s won championships with multiple teams. He’s won just about every award possible. He’s leading or near the top in so many regular season and playoff statistical categories and now he’s on the verge of breaking a record that no one imagined would ever be broken. At the time of writing this, he’s less than 100 points away from becoming the All-Time leading scorer in NBA history and he just became top 5 all time in assists. This guy’s longevity and sustained dominance is unparalleled in NBA history. When he retires, I don’t think anybody will have the overall resume that he’ll have. Not MJ, not Kobe, not Magic or Bird, not Kareem, or even Wilt. LeBron will stand alone from an accomplishment/statistical perspective.
There’s so much more I could say on this but that’s where I land on the debate. I could certainly understand cases made for some of the others. You can easily build a case for MJ or Kareem, and it would have some validity - maybe even Magic or Bird. There’s no “absolute” right answer which is what makes the GOAT debate so fun. So, in all actuality, there’s no such thing as the GOAT…but I’m rolling with the kid from Akron.
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