MJ's status as the GOAT will be over when Gen Z & Alpha people have leading positions

[Drygon]

Michael Jordan's status as the GOAT is kept alive by old people with power in sports media as they lived through the era of prime MJ dominating the NBA.

Since prime MJ retired in 1998 however, there are millions and millions of young people becoming NBA fans. And they missed out prime MJ as they were either too young or not born.

Even though YouTube exists, most people are growing up with idols they have seen with their own eyes. LeBron James is the only GOAT-level player people under the age of 30 have seen.

When the old people in sports media are replaced by the younger generation, will MJ no longer be revered as the GOAT and LeBron James taking over that role?

[RRR3]

Yes but then LeBron will be passed too in the eyes of the next generation. People will be saying "lol LeBron played against milkmen and plumbers" when comparing him to whoever will be seen as the new GOAT.

[Neal Romer]

LOL @ calling anyone growing up today "generation alpha."

Just because "Generation X" was a thing doesnt mean they all have to have letters and go alphabetically.

I can get with "Gen Z" because you can call them Zoomers in contrast to Boomers and it's kinda funny.

But I aint callin today's kids alpha. We're gonna need an entirely different term for them.

[StrongLurk]

Lebron is the GOAT of the modern era, but we are definitely heading into a new era where Jokic, or maybe Wemby, can become the new modern GOAT. We are in an era of parity and who knows how long that will go for, so winning multiple chips will be much harder than it was in the archaic pre-2000's.

[3ba11]

No one thinks Lebron is the actual GOAT... They might think he's "on-par" with Jordan or there's a "debate", but no one thinks he's the clear-cut GOAT the way people think about MJ.

No one thinks that because they see Lebron lose more than anyone ever has - no one lost more with favored rosters such as preseason favorites and Finals teams, and also bevies of losses with all-star teammates, homecourt and 1 or 2 seeds... This is objectively far below the GOAT standard.

[warriorfan]

LOL @ calling anyone growing up today "generation alpha."

Just because "Generation X" was a thing doesnt mean they all have to have letters and go alphabetically.

I can get with "Gen Z" because you can call them Zoomers in contrast to Boomers and it's kinda funny.

But I aint callin today's kids alpha. We're gonna need an entirely different term for them.

generation beta seems like the obvious choice

[3ba11]

The "best basketball" can be defined as dominant champions that averaged 1 loss per round or less (4 losses max), or dynasties that mostly won for a material stretch of 5+ years (i.e. 3 in 5 years).

Accordingly, since possession-tracking began in 1997, 1st options with a career assisted rate above 40% (jumpshooters or bigs) were 1st option for 12 of 12 dynasties or dominant champions (the best basketball).. Otoh, 1st options with a career assisted rate below 40% (ball-dominators) were never 1st option for the best basketball (0 for 12).

Since the best jumpshooters and bigs produce the best basketball, they're superior to the best ball-dominators, which means the first ball-dominators appear in the all-time rankings BEHIND the best bigs and jumpshooters.. The full rankings are MJ, Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Kobe, Bird, Duncan, Shaq, Curry, Jokic, Magic, Lebron, Oscar - the 2nd thru 10th spots are more interchangeable and subjective, but it's set in stone that MJ is #1 and ball-dominators are no higher than 11th, based on the historical record that ball-dominators are never the 1st option for the best basketball (dynasties or dominant champions)..

The issue is that low-assisted 1st options have a high volume of unassisted buckets that hinders ball movement, while highly-assisted 1st options produce higher-assist teams and foster the great ball movement that every dynasty has.. This is statistical fact (that highly-assisted 1st options produce MUCH higher-assist teams).

[jstern]

Is the OP another Axe alt?

Last night I saw LeBron do a not so pretty, no defense spin move, and I thought about all the teenagers in the late 2000s putting Jordan down and saying that he played in a weak era, that the players at that time were bigger, faster stronger (Jordan had just played in the league 5 years earlier as a 40 year old, but to a teenager, their perception of time is much longer). During the Jordan era, it's the present, you're viewing these players as pure quality, so I couldn't have imagined that newly conscious people would put down past players, not knowing anything about them, and being so emotionally invested that they actually did see players from ten years earlier as scrubs. (One big issue was that they have no concept of star players being forgotten, so if they don't know the name of a past superstar, then they must have been a scrub, and at the same time, someone like Steve Kerr was a big star that played along Jordan).

And basically, the same thing is going to happen with LeBron.

The advantage that LeBron has is that most of his games are of HD quality, which would make it feel more present to the future generations. But when future generations start comparing move aesthetics of the players, future generations are going to pick Jordan, with LeBron getting less and less coverage over the years.

This was the spin move, first play of the game.


https://youtu.be/rbghvhF6UhU

vs


https://youtu.be/v3tEmNWHHLg

Eventually, every single person alive today is going to be forgotten.

[3ba11]

Is the OP another Axe alt?

Last night I saw LeBron do a not so pretty, no defense spin move, and I thought about all the teenagers in the late 2000s putting Jordan down and saying that he played in a weak era, that the players at that time were bigger, faster stronger (Jordan had just played in the league 5 years earlier as a 40 year old, but to a teenager, their perception of time is much longer). During the Jordan era, it's the present, you're viewing these players as pure quality, so I couldn't have imagined that newly conscious people would put down past players, not knowing anything about them, and being so emotionally invested that they actually did see players from ten years earlier as scrubs. (One big issue was that they have no concept of star players being forgotten, so if they don't know the name of a past superstar, then they must have been a scrub, and at the same time, someone like Steve Kerr was a big star that played along Jordan).



And basically, the same thing is going to happen with LeBron.

The advantage that LeBron has is that most of his games are of HD quality, which would make it feel more present to the future generations. But when future generations start comparing move aesthetics of the players, future generations are going to pick Jordan, with LeBron getting less and less coverage over the years.

This was the spin move, first play of the game.


https://youtu.be/rbghvhF6UhU

vs


https://youtu.be/v3tEmNWHHLg

Eventually, every single person alive today is going to be forgotten.



Only Jordan was considered the consensus goat for 20+ years, so this record of being considered the universal goat will stand the test of time.. No one else has really been considered the goat except him... The historical record will also show Jordan's caliber of dominance and accolades withstanding all comers, such as Kobe, Iverson, Durant, Curry, Lebron, and more... Youtube and other media sources have chronicled this "goat debate" and Jordan was the only consensus goat in history, so there will always be this mystique about Jordan that will grow as time goes on...

Furthermore, the Warriors and Spurs copied the triangle, and the entire league copied them, so Jordan's footprint will always be on the NBA forever - he will always be the GOAT because the historical record of his goatness is always there and easily viewable by any new fan... For example, the interviews with members of the top 75 saying that Jordan was the main presence and the goat - this kind of historical record will stand the test of time.. These kinds of first-hand account of MJ's goatness will forever be there and never matched.. So youtubers will always see that the quotes and stories about MJ were the best... There will never be a mystique like Jordan's because he's the only consensus goat in history...

And people will be wearing his shoes with the mystical jumpman logo for another 1000 years.

[Axe]

:blah
Meltdown. Stop accusing me of stupid shit, you adderall-induced moron.

[Full Court]

Lebron is the GOAT of the modern era, but we are definitely heading into a new era where Jokic, or maybe Wemby, can become the new modern GOAT. We are in an era of parity and who knows how long that will go for, so winning multiple chips will be much harder than it was in the archaic pre-2000's.

Notice how in the "era of parity" Lebron is a perennial play-in kind of guy....

[StrongLurk]

Notice how in the "era of parity" Lebron is a perennial play-in kind of guy....

Old, out of prime Lebron (2021-2024) was still a top 10 player in the league this whole time. I don't think he's been a top 10 player so far this year but the season is still young and he's at least top 15 so far this year. By the way in the era of parity, Lebron still has as many rings/FMVP/all-nba teams as anybody else. The only two guys you can definitely put over old Lebron is peak Jokic/Giannis :lol

[sdot_thadon]

Notice how in the "era of parity" Lebron is a perennial play-in kind of guy....

The other didn't play in an era of parity at any point, so what's your point?

[tpols]

LOL @ calling anyone growing up today "generation alpha."



:roll:

It's a sweet poetry of irony. The Universe giving us a hearty laugh.