June 24, 201214 yr Easy answer to the Greatest Of All Time is Jordan, but is he really? How about Magic? He was transformative at his position, really no one like him before. Is he GOAT? Momba? He is Jordan version 2.0, but is he GOAT? LeBron? Might be most physically gifted all time, but is he GOAT? Wilt? Single most dominant player in history by many accounts, is he GOAT? Rules were actually changed to make game fairer to others because he was so dominant. Jordan? Maybe most competitive player ever is GOAT? Rules, ie hand checks, were changed and made game easier for him and all those that followed him. Russel? 11 Rings, does that make him GOAT? West? He is the flippin Logo, does he get love as GOAT? Bird? Did more with less ability than anyone in history, could he be GOAT? :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
June 24, 201214 yr It really is hard to compare one player from one era to others from different ones. Its hard to exactly say who was the GOAT because many players bring in many different arguments to make their case for it...
June 24, 201214 yr Author ^ I agree, that's what got me to think about this question. You hear people all the time, especially in Basketball, say that so and so is the GOAT. Very little is ever mentioned back prior to the early 90's.
June 24, 201214 yr Jordan Magic Kobe Wilt James No Bird in that order?I think Magic would disagree with you!:idunno:
June 24, 201214 yr Because I think we place way too much on team championships when naming "best ever" I say the GOAT is Wilt. Could NOT be guarded.
June 24, 201214 yr Author Because I think we place way too much on team championships when naming "best ever" I say the GOAT is Wilt. Could NOT be guarded. That's what I'm thinking too. During his career, his dominance precipitated many rules changes. These rules changed included widening the lane, instituting offensive goaltending and revising rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws (Chamberlain would leap with the ball from behind the foul line to deposit the ball in the basket). Wilt Chamberlain said it best: "If Michael was here right now, I would say to him: When you are so great that the league tries to change the rules in an attempt to stop you then you can claim you are the best ever. Every rule change I have seen during your career has been meant to enhance your game (such as shortened 3 point line, hand checking rules & well defined rules regarding illegal defenses)."
June 24, 201214 yr Because I think we place way too much on team championships when naming "best ever" I say the GOAT is Wilt. Could NOT be guarded. Agree but Jordan couldn't be guarded either.
June 24, 201214 yr The Big O... That's the problem with different eras. I can't really comment on the Big O because I didn't really see him play like the ones just past his generation. Same with Wilt. I only saw the end of his career. I would argue that highlights and old video are difficult to evaluate in their entirety. Difficult to argue against any of them really.
June 24, 201214 yr Is that your order? Kobe ahead of Wilt? No Bird in that order?I think Magic would disagree with you!:idunno: That's no particular order in the second group, just basically implying its MJ then whoever else you want to put into the discussion. I thought about throwing Bird in there but didn't want to add too many. Bird was great and on par with everyone in that second group, but fact of the matter is none of them were Jordan so it doesn't matter. Bird was without question one of the best ever, just not "the best", you could argue Magic over Bird that's why I went with him. Kobe has the rings and the stats to compare. Wilt scored 100 and dominated his entire career. Lebron has the talent, the numbers, but needs the rings. Jordan has everything and then some. Russell has most rings, was a great player, but I felt the others had more all around talent. And this is coming from someone who grew up in the height of the Jordan era and was not a Jordan fan. I do however realize he was GOAT.
June 24, 201214 yr The only argument I could make for Jordan and against Wilt is that I think Jordan's game transcends the eras because of his position. At the time Wilt played he had no equal. I'd be curious if you could transplant him into this generation and see if he had similar success against Shaq, DHoward and those of similar size.
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.