NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
Why is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never mentioned in NBA GOAT conversations? The talk always centers around Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and at times Kobe Bryant but where is the love for Abdul-Jabbar?
Jordan changed the NBA in terms of marketing. LeBron showed that a player can do it all, and Kobe, well, he was Jordan 2.0. When making the case for Jordan, it often leads to his 6 rings. Well, how many championships did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win? Yup, you guessed it, 6. Who was the leading scorer in NBA history up until last season when he was surpassed by LeBron James? Yup, you guessed it, Jabbar. Who is top 5 in Rebounds and Blocks? There goes that man again momma.
I’ll ask again, why is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left off the list when determining GOAT? He has the same amount of championships as Jordan and more than LeBron. Let’s be honest, his Los Angeles Lakers team changed the NBA and set the foundation for the play and marketing that we see now.
As unstoppable as fans and analysts say that Jordan and LeBron were, who put the clamps on Kareem? 20 years in the NBA and the man was a force by himself. Oh, you want to make the argument that he had help? Would Magic Johnson be Magic Johnson without Kareem? We don’t know. Would Jordan be Jordan without Scottie Pippen? And let’s not even talk about LeBron and the host of superstars he played with.
The point is, great players had running mates. So when you make a case that Kareem had help, so did Jordan and LeBron.
Does Jordan have an unstoppable signature move? The fadeaway? Hell, that was done before. To this day, LeBron still doesn’t have one. But the Skyhook, that was all Kareem. But he’s not the leading scorer anymore they will say. LeBron passed him so that makes LeBron the GOAT, right?
Hell no. For one, even as the leading scorer, people still refused to put Kareem on that list as he sat atop many statistical categories. And let’s look at those points. It took someone 20+ years to achieve that goal but they took different paths. Abdul-Jabbar was not like the big men we see today. He played the post and did not venture away from that.
LeBron was able to pass him due to the three-point shot. Over his career, Kareem took 18 shots from beyond the arc and made one. LeBron, on the other hand, took 6926 and made 2410. Hmmmm. That shows how dominating Kareem was. His points came from the paint and the free-throw line. Not to take anything away from what James accomplished but take away his 3’s and he doesn’t come anywhere close to what Jabbar or even Karl Malone did.
The debate for GOAT will go on forever. Right now, it’s Jordan and LeBron. In another 10 years, it might be Anthony Edwards or Victor Wembanyama. But I can guarantee that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name still won’t come up. And that alone is disrespectful to his legacy.
