There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

[Po Pimp]

Michael Jordan
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell

[ehh]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Thanks?

BTW I know enough people who grew up in the 60's and 70's who'd argue that Oscar Robertson is the GOAT.

[DC]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

I don't think Magic is arguable honestly.

[sportyguyfl31]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Geez..there are a ton of other folks that be can be added to the conversation..

[Stumbleweed]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Yeah I was gonna say, replace Magic with Oscar and there's a list that is pretty damn solid. Oscar is the GOAT PG despite his stats being inflated due to the crazy pace back then.

[Po Pimp]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Ok, if you had to limit yourself to FIVE names, those are really the only names that can be argued.

I wouldn't include Oscar in GOAT conversations. He won one MVP and one ring. His stats were off the hook, but they really tailed off towards the end of his career. Magic on the other hand has 3 MVPs, 5 rings, and 9 Finals Appearances.

[Jukeman]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

KOBE!!!!!!









:runs away:

LoL

[ehh]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

I wouldn't include Oscar in GOAT conversations. He won one MVP and one ring. His stats were off the hook, but they really tailed off towards the end of his career. Magic on the other hand has 3 MVPs, 5 rings, and 9 Finals Appearances.

This is why a majority of these debates are kinda dumb, all you're doing is rattling off stats. If you didn't see everyone in their prime it's impossible to do a fair comparison - which it's impossible to do anyway because of different eras.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Yeah I was gonna say, replace Magic with Oscar and there's a list that is pretty damn solid. Oscar is the GOAT PG despite his stats being inflated due to the crazy pace back then.

How many games have you seen Oscar play?

[Po Pimp]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

This is why a majority of these debates are kinda dumb, all you're doing is rattling off stats. If you didn't see everyone in their prime it's impossible to do a fair comparison - which it's impossible to do anyway because of different eras.

Which is why I'm not "rattling off stats", but accomplishments.

[ehh]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Which is why I'm not "rattling off stats", but accomplishments.

Same difference, you're reading stuff off basketball-reference.com as opposed to having seen the Big O play and formulating your own opinion.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

How many games have you seen Oscar play?

Like 2 on ESPN Classic.

I don't think that should really disqualify him though, since there are maybe 2 people on this whole site who could've actually seen him play. Hearing the awe-filled descriptions of how next-level Oscar was from guys like Elgin Baylor and other great players at the time combined with the stats, combined with the fact that Magic had Kareem holding it down for all of his titles (the last one Kareem was 41, but still a force).... that's enough for me to say that. Until he got to Milwaukee with Kareem, he was on crappy teams and still carried them in the playoffs.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Like 2 on ESPN Classic.

I don't think that should really disqualify him though, since there are maybe 2 people on this whole site who could've actually seen him play. Hearing the awe-filled descriptions of how next-level Oscar was from guys like Elgin Baylor and other great players at the time combined with the stats, combined with the fact that Magic had Kareem holding it down for all of his titles (the last one Kareem was 41, but still a force).... that's enough for me to say that. Until he got to Milwaukee with Kareem, he was on crappy teams and still carried them in the playoffs.

I don't think it discounts Oscar from the discussion, I just think it discounts him from OUR discussion. I don't trust people scouting players who they haven't seen play. When you haven't seen someone play, your perspective is severely limited.

In that limited perspective, I'm fairly certain Oscar Robinson was not better than Michael Jordan.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Well yeah, none of those guys are legitimately in the GOAT discussion IMO... If you had to pick 5 of them though, those (minus Magic, plus Oscar) would be my list. Jordan doing everything he did as a ~6'6" guard is what's so impressive... the rest of the list is dominated by bigger guys who had distinct physical advantages. Even Oscar was big for his era and had major speed advantages on similar sized players (like LeBron)...

So yeah:

MJ
(everyone else on the list)

[Black Mamba]

Re: There are really only 5 players you can argue for GOAT...

Magic on the other hand has 3 MVPs, 5 rings, and 9 Finals Appearances.

for me if you want to consider yourself the GOAT, you have to be great on the defensive end as well as the offensive end. Now I love Magic but even he was not that great defensively, Also Russell who dominated on the defensive end was never a dominating offensive player, how many teams were in the league when Russell started racking up all those titles btw? This is why a guy like MJ are considered the greatest because he dominated offensively and defensively to go along with all his accomplishments. Also if Kobe finishes out his career with a couple more titles, There's no doubt he's in the top 5