u/Geaty788’s post from a bit ago had me go on a deep dive into some of his records and his career. Obviously he’s a 6x MVP, 19 time all star, 15x all nba, 11x all defense and the all time leading scorer with his time in the league but holy shit
Over the course of high school and college Kareem went 167-4 and won 6 titles… as well as his 6 titles as a player and all his other accomplishments on and off the court
Just a true winner in alll levels of life and sport
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/292078-is-kareem-abdul-jabbar-the-greatest-basketball-player-ever.amp.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kareem-abdul-jabbar-1.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulka01.html
by WestleyThe
34 Comments
Would’ve been declared cooked after his 3rd NBA loss if he played today.
And Jamal Murray doesn’t even have him in his top 5.
definitely GOAT level numbers right there. I wish I got to watch prime Kareem
If we’re talking about high school, college, and NBA, he’s the GOAT for sure.
I think MJ and Bron were better in the NBA, but Kareem had the best overall basketball resume
What was his NBA record pre-Magic though?
His newsletter is pretty great, too.
Too bad he played plumbers /s
Imagine being on the hs teams that beat him
Greatest “whole career” player of all time
All time winner.
Jamal Murray’s dumb ass had Shaq over this man.
But what do you expect from a guy who accidentally tweeted his gf going down on him?
Why doesn’t Kareem have a very serious argument for being the GOAT over Jordan? Like, Jordan has been the unanimous GOAT since the ’90s, with really only LeBron having a strong argument to take that tile from Jordan (and by “argument”, I’m talking about the general discourse around the topic).
Why isn’t Kareem in the conversation at all?
Genuinely asking since I wasn’t born/watching the NBA during the careers of Kareem and Jordan.
Plenty of folks who are old enough to have watched Lew Alcindor’s career believe he’s the GOAT.
NBA culture has a lot more recency bias than sports like baseball.
Also has the best film career of any NBA player I know. He was in Airplane! and Game of Death…
Still my goat until I die.
The actual GOAT. Then LeBron, then MJ.
Lmao guy wasted time in college imagine his dominance if he did less college years
little bit of a drop off of winning percentages. kareem was washed by the time he made the nba /s
The other crazy thing is he may well have won 4 NCAA championships but freshman weren’t allowed to play on the varsity team back then.
I always loved that Bill Walton had an insane win streak
at Helix High School. As a senior, he led Helix to a 33-0 record, averaging 29 points and 24 rebounds. The next season, he drove UCLA’s freshman team to a 20-0 mark. Next came back-to-back 30-0 seasons with the varsity, culminating in NCAA championship-game victories over Florida State in 1972 and Memphis State in 1973. In all, Walton went five years and 142 games between losses, until a 71-70 setback at Notre Dame his senior season.
The three college championships were the most anyone could win at the time since freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity team until 1972. Allowed only exhibition games, the UCLA freshman team with Kareem Abdul-Jabar went 21-0.
You know what, I’m done pretending. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest basketball players, maybe of all time.
Kareem was decent
DAE Kareem good????
Most dominant basketball player ever. Hands down.
That’s why when people say he’s GOAT, I gotta respect it. I don’t agree with it obviously *looks at flair*. When it comes to winning, Kareem has such a strong case (like Russell). He was just so dominant on every level of the sport.
I want to read an oral history of one of the two losses he had in high school though. His side, his teammates stuff, the other school. How often those dudes bragged about beating Lew Alcindor when he was dominating basketball the next 20 years. Because you bet your fucking ass I would.
I think he’s the third best ever, but as long as you have him anywhere 1-4 you’re on the right track. Just an insane winner.
Yeah and he was a commercial airline pilot in the 80s
I wonder what schools beat him in HS. Would love to see who was on the roster.
Better than LeBron. Easy.
On the court, and off.
Love Kareem.
Another reason that goes unsaid is that he was widely hated during his NBA career. Kareem took up stances for civil rights and opposed the Vietnam war. He stood up for what he believed in and didn’t go the “republicans buy shoes too” cop out. These stances he took made him widely hated. People look back with rose colored glasses on the past but a lot of the athletes that we view as hero’s today were “villains” of their day. Muhammad Ali was one of the most hated men in all of America during his fighting career. But now he is beloved by everyone and a lot of people don’t know how hated he, and many other athletes of their day were hated. Out of all the GOAT candidates he’s my GOAT person out all of them.
Okay but MJ and LeBron had to go around people before the NBA. There was probably nobody that could come close to guarding him until he reached the NBA
This is why Woj saying Wemby is the best prospect ever is completely fucking insane. Kareem was a top 3 player in the world before playing a game in the NBA and everyone knew it.
Fun fact: in the 1972 NBA Draft the Milwaukee Bucks, literally one year separated from their first championship, drafted ABA breakout star Julius Erving. Multiple contract disputes meant it never happened but there is a distinct possibility that Dr. J could have joined Kareem and the Big O in Milwaukee. Kareem would have had like 15 rings.
People talk about lebrons longevity, dude only played 1 full season, kareem had 5 or 6. MJ 9 i believe. To me kareem is #2 ever. What would be nba logo if not jerry west? Probably kareem sky hook. What about lebron, whats his signature move? Crab dribble?
Let’s be real. The only reason he is not the unanimous GOAT is because he has a quiet personality and his game was not super flashy unlike Jordan’s or Lebron’s. Accolades wise, he is number 1.