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I know why we do this, it's the offseason. But Lebron's career is not complete. Imagine if he wins a ring with a buncha washed players (including the great washedbrook)? How could I possibly not put him 1st???? But I can't live on ifs and buts. So for now I'll go with _ _ _ _ _ _.
Not making a new thread yet but this is the current vote tally. It's actually close to a four-way tie with Lebron slightly ahead.
[B]Official Vote Tally[/B]
Wilt Chamberlain - 3: coastalmarker99, Thenameless, L. Kizzle
Bill Russell - 3: Dbrog, dankok8, Reggie43
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 3: ChickStern, ClipperRevival, jstern
Lebron James - 5: 8ball, SouBeachTalents, Bankaii, SaintzFury13, RRR3
I'll go ahead and contribute. My vote is for Bill Russell.
Alright let's get some more votes. This race is too close to call!
That's a pretty good top 5 list actually.
Kareem
[QUOTE=imdaman99;14426522]I know why we do this, it's the offseason. But Lebron's career is not complete. Imagine if he wins a ring with a buncha washed players (including the great washedbrook)? How could I possibly not put him 1st???? But I can't live on ifs and buts. So for now I'll go with _ _ _ _ _ _.[/QUOTE]
LeBron can win three more titles with washed up role players. The curse of 2011 and the fact that Jordan was still the better player on both ends will always come back to bite him. Accolades aren't everything.
But I think at this point LeBron pretty much has the number 2 spot secured. Even if it's 50/50 right NOW between him and Kareem for me, I have no doubt in my mind that my shift will change drastically towards LeBron being an undisputed number 2 with no questions asked.
If Lebron by the time his career is over ended up with 6 or 7 rings and 6 finals MVPs.
To go along with his longevity and insane peak from 2009 to 2014.
He will be considered by the general public as the GOAT over Jordan that I have no doubts about.
[QUOTE=coastalmarker99;14426835]If Lebron by the time his career is over ended up with 6 or 7 rings and 6 finals MVPs.
To go along with his longevity and insane peak from 2009 to 2014.
He will be considered by the general public as the GOAT over Jordan that I have no doubts about.
He already owns the record book when it comes to the playoffs you give him 6 or 7 rings and the discussion is over.[/QUOTE]
I could care less about how many rings he has. He wasn't a better scorer or defender than Jordan. I cannot justify any argument that states LeBron was greater simply because he ended up with more championships.
[QUOTE=SaintzFury13;14426839]I could care less about how many rings he has. He wasn't a better scorer or defender than Jordan. I cannot justify any argument that states LeBron was greater simply because he ended up with more championships.[/QUOTE]
The GOAT debate in basketball will end up like tennis.
If Lebron has more titles than Jordan and finals MVP'S to go along with destroying Jordan in longevity and having a similar peak to him.
Then the general public will crown Lebron as the GOAT regardless of the fact that he wasn't a better scorer or defender than Jordan.
Look at Novak Djokovic in tennis nobody wants to crown him as the GOAT over Nadal and Federer.
But once he gets his 21st grand slam in a couple of weeks there will be no arguments you can make against him not being the GOAT of tennis.
[QUOTE=coastalmarker99;14426841]The GOAT debate in basketball will end up like tennis.
If Lebron has more titles than Jordan and finals MVP'S to go along with destroying Jordan in longevity and having a similar peak to him.
Then the general public will crown Lebron as the GOAT regardless of the fact that he wasn't a better scorer or defender than Jordan.
Look at Novak Djokovic in tennis nobody wants to crown him as the GOAT over Nadal and Federer.
But once he gets his 21st grand slam in a couple of weeks there will be no arguments you can make against him not being the GOAT of tennis.[/QUOTE]
It's a shame that the debate about who the greatest basketball player of all time won't come down to who the better basketball player was.
[QUOTE=SaintzFury13;14426854]It's a shame that the debate about who the greatest basketball player of all time won't come down to who the better basketball player was.[/QUOTE]
If that was the case then
Wilt and Lebron would be both the undisputed number one and number two players of all-time as they are the two most talented basketball players ever.
[QUOTE=coastalmarker99;14426859]If that was the case then
Wilt and Lebron would be both the undisputed number one and number two players of all-time as they are the two most talented basketball players ever.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't call Wilt the most "talented". He was very skilled, I am not taking that away from him. But his dominance definitely had a lot more to do with his physical attributes and the fact that there simply weren't many people in that time period that could stop him from doing whatever he wanted.
If we are strictly talking most dominant, then yes, Wilt and LeBron would be number 1 and 2.
Lebron does not deserve numero uno but he can place himself on numero dos and such it votes Lebron it is. Jordan is #numero uno because he has the most finals mvps and Lebron has second most so give him numero dos.
I would have placed my vote for LeBron at #1 had I gotten here sooner but #2 is really just as good. My reasoning for LeBron being #1/#2 can be summed up as LeBron being the one to break the game of basketball.
The National Basketball Association has a rich history of legends, rivalries, accolades and above all, superstar talent. Fans who grew up watching Jerry West, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, have two things in common, a love for their heroes and a desire to see their heroes do better than anyone else. Having collected 11 rings, Celtic legend Bill Russell sits atop the championship mountain, but players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird were some of the first to show the world that, while championship totals are impressive and undoubtedly important, they are not the end all, be all, to ranking a player in totality. Another player to push this notion further into the forefront was the great Michael Jordan.
What if you could have a player win multiple championships while also holding all of the playoff records in existence? This is what Michael Jordan did. He was the first to break the game of basketball. Russell had tallied the championships but he didn’t have the impressive stats to compliment his rings. Kareem had the stats but he only ended up with 2 Finals MVPs. Michael? He collected 6 FMVPs and all the playoff records you could imagine. If you were a fan of MJ in the late 90's you could not imagine that anyone would pass MJ in playoff win shares, game winners, steals, elimination game ppg, most 30.0 playoff PERs through the Finals, point scored, and the list goes on. But then LeBron James happened and he broke the game of basketball.
LeBron found a way to lead his team in Finals scoring for 9 years, a feat that no other legend has come close to. Jordan sits in the #2 spot having done this 6 times. Kareem and Shaq are tied for third place with 5 a piece. Even the great 11x champion Bill Russell, a defensive minded player, only led his team in Finals scoring 3 times. No one would have believed you if back in 2004 you said there would be a player that would pass Jordan in any of these stats. Most 30.0 PER playoff runs? Not a chance, MJ is the King of PER. Game winners? NOPE. Michael is the clutch god. Points? Are you kidding me?! MJ passed Kareem by over 200 and Kareem made 10 Finals and 18 playoffs.
But then the unbelievable happened. All of the records that were once thought to be unbreakable were broken. And with it, all of the memories and nostalgia tied to every broken record also meant bruised egos for many fans. A wounded spirit. A new but warped perception of reality. How could someone pass my legend? How could a player ever do the unthinkable? What happened?
LeBron James happened. And he broke the game of basketball.