Kareem won the 1976 NBA MVP - his team didn't make the playoffs. Did he deserve it?

[72-10]

:confusedshrug:

[Marchesk]

Who would have deserved it more? McAdoo? He was league leading scorer, and his team did make the playoffs.

Kareem's numbers though were all-around very impressive.

['Toine=MVP]

I don't mind him getting MVP. He was better than the rest of the NBA players then (the NBA was the 2nd best pro basketball league at the time though). But when you compare him to other players that were among the best in their eras, he falls really short, in no small part because his team finished sub-.500 in back to back years in his his prime in the 2nd best basketball league. It is one of Kobe's biggest black marks too, but at least he was in the West, whereas the whole NBA was the equivalent of the East of the last 20 years, while the ABA was the equivalent of the West. Why shouldn't the Kobe black mark apply to Kareem?

[Akrazotile]

I dont know but it def illustrates the inconsistency and agendas of people today.

If this happened to their fav player, team records dont matter. If it happens to a player they hate, records should matter.

Classic Orwellian doublethink.

[k0kakw0rld]

:confusedshrug:
Who was more deserving, OP. Enlighten us.

[Duncan21formvp]

No especially not in a split league.

[kennethgriffen]

back then the players voted. thats how much they respected kareem and thus a major reason why he's the true GOAT

[Duncan21formvp]

back then the players voted. thats how much they respected kareem and thus a major reason why he's the true GOAT
True GOAT's won't miss playoffs in there prime nor would they lose with HCA to teams below .500 nor need players who actually won league mvp in order to win. Both Oscar and Magic won league mvp.

[kennethgriffen]

True GOAT's won't miss playoffs in there prime nor would they lose with HCA to teams below .500 nor need players who actually won league mvp in order to win. Both Oscar and Magic won league mvp.


basketball isn't a one man sport and duncan relied on his teammates more than kareem did back then


you think kareem misses the playoffs with the 1998-2016 spurs at any time

[kennethgriffen]

the 76 lakers were pretty damn awful after kareem and an older goodrich


guys like lucius allen

cornell warner

don ford

corky calhoun

donnie freeman

cazzie russell

ron williams



those were their next top 7 guys... and i've never heard of any of them

['Toine=MVP]

back then the players voted. thats how much they respected kareem and thus a major reason why he's the true GOAT

They voted him as the best. The best player in the 2nd best professional basketball league. Big whoop. They didn't vote him as the best player in history and they certainly didn't vote on him as being better than all future players.

[kennethgriffen]

They voted him as the best. The best player in the 2nd best professional basketball league. Big whoop. They didn't vote him as the best player in history and they certainly didn't vote on him as being better than all future players.


i think this was settled a long time ago but... here ya go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3DWaKXaAYA

[fourkicks44]

the 76 lakers were pretty damn awful after kareem and an older goodrich


guys like lucius allen

cornell warner

don ford

corky calhoun

donnie freeman

cazzie russell

ron williams



those were their next top 7 guys... and i've never heard of any of them

Cazzie could ball, son.

Cornell had mad hops and could get hot and light it up from time to time.

['Toine=MVP]

i think this was settled a long time ago but... here ya go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3DWaKXaAYA

What does that have to do with anything I said? You are really not a bright person.

[Mr.GOAT2408]

He was the best player in the NBA and it wasn't exactly a strong league to begin with. Plus it was player voted so it wasn't narrative-driven like later MVPs

Erving was probably the better player but he was still dominating the ABA in 1976, otherwise you had McAdoo, Barry, Maravich, Archibald and let's be real they weren't better than Kareem

[kennethgriffen]

What does that have to do with anything I said? You are really not a bright person.


the 1976 season/playoff ABA mvp was dr J


a guy that got embarrassed by kareem in a 1 on 1 showdown


it wasn't even close.. he torched him...more than doubled his score ... it was so bad that they begged kareem to come out of retirement


Dr J couldn't shoot... kareem hit more 3's than erving did in that game




if kobe and duncan had a 1 on 1 right now and duncan blew out kobe by more than double his score... and duncan was draining more 3's and just schooling shit... i'd bow down and admit duncan was always the better player




as a smaller guy you should be able to dance on a big man and drain shots all day... erving had no handle and no shot.. he was a simplistic basketball player.. he was exposed. pure and simple

[Odinn]

The NBA in the '70s were pretty chaotic. You can't apply the criterias gotten established with the '80s and onwards.
BTW, the team was 6th in the conference. The Kings with 31 wins (9 less than the Lakers) made it to the playoffs.

['Toine=MVP]

the 1976 season/playoff ABA mvp was dr J


a guy that got embarrassed by kareem in a 1 on 1 showdown


it wasn't even close.. he torched him...more than doubled his score ... it was so bad that they begged kareem to come out of retirement


Dr J couldn't shoot... kareem hit more 3's than erving did in that game




if kobe and duncan had a 1 on 1 right now and duncan blew out kobe by more than double his score... and duncan was draining more 3's and just schooling shit... i'd bow down and admit duncan was always the better player




as a smaller guy you should be able to dance on a big man and drain shots all day... erving had no handle and no shot.. he was a simplistic basketball player.. he was exposed. pure and simple

1. Kareem's biggest claim to fame is that he was able to be good as an old man. That barely moves the needle in a GOAT conversation. The fact that the greatest old man to ever play the game was able to beat a former extreme athlete when they were both old men is absolutely meaningless. Completely and absolutely without meaning. Larry Bird wouldn't have done so well in his mid 40s either. It doesn't change the fact that he's the 2nd greatest player of all time.

2. I never said Dr. J was better than Kareem in terms of all time greatness or talent in that year. The video above tells us NOTHING about which was more talented during their peaks, but I think Kareem was probably better than Dr. J then.

3. What I did say was that the NBA was inferior to the ABA at the time, to about the degree that the East has been inferior to the West for some time (a lot longer period of time for East/West). That doesn't mean the best player can't be in the worst league. LeBron has been the best player in basketball for much of the last decade and has played in the East. It can happen. But even though winning the conference (after 2012 or so) wasn't a huge accomplishment, if he finished sub .500 in the East two years in a row, woof.

[dunksby]

Kareem won 6 MVPs when players voted for it, I'd take that over any media award.

[Manny98]

Prime Kareem couldn't even take his team to the playoffs and people trying to tell me he's the GOAT :roll:

[Kblaze8855]

Kareem's biggest claim to fame is that he was able to be good as an old man.

To who? You never hear any of his peers use that reasoning to explain why he was so great.

[!@#$%Vectors!@#]

Prime Kareem couldn't even take his team to the playoffs and people trying to tell me he's the GOAT :roll:

He missed the playoffs because of a stupid technicality that was just removed a few years ago...

['Toine=MVP]

To who? You never hear any of his peers use that reasoning to explain why he was so great.

You keep conflating separate ideas. It is possible to have been considered the best player in a certain era and not a top 5 player ever. LeBron has been the best player in the league for most of his already pretty long career, yet is no lock for top 5 greatest of all time. Kareem is in a similar situation. The argument people make for Kareem being better than 5th or 6th or 7th or 8th is the longevity argument. It is the only one that can push him much higher.

Let's say he got hurt before his age 32 season. And played a couple more shell-of-himself seasons. So he's never even close to all star level when Magic is on the team. He only ends up winning 1 ring, but his true prime years aren't affected at all. Would his all time rank change much for you or not? Because it shouldn't change much at all, unless you mainly care about longevity (like 99% of people that think Kareem is way better than 5-8 range).

[SamuraiSWISH]

Kareem can be overrated.

No one else besides Duncan gets the passes this guy does by casuals pretending to be super knowledgeable or counter culture basketball wise.

Top 5 - 10 no doubt. But if this is any other player not named Duncan, failures and context just get swept under the rug.

If MJ / Kobe / LeBron didn’t even make the playoffs while winning MVP in their prime they’d be lambasted.

This was also in an extremely weak league pre merger to add even more context to the whole scenario.

This guy only won while playing with ...

Oscar (Top 15)

And ...

Magic (Top 5)
Worthy (Top 30)

At the same time. Magic being the best player on the vast majority of those chips. Kareem and Duncan’s failures or contextual help always get overlooked.

And old decrepit heads wanna argue he’s GOAT. By using high school against amateurs as achievements to broaden his resume.

[Marchesk]

Wait, for the 5 people who voted no, who is your 1976 MVP?

And no, ABA Dr. J doesn't count. :lol

I suggested Bob McAdoo as one possibility. Maybe Cowens on the Celtics? But Kareem's numbers were so good.

[Duncan21formvp]

basketball isn't a one man sport and duncan relied on his teammates more than kareem did back then


you think kareem misses the playoffs with the 1998-2016 spurs at any time
Yes he easily misses several seasons. With Duncan's 2003 season he doesn't make the playoffs with them. He even lost with peak Magic Johnson on his squad.