How Much Do You Value Longevity In Relation To A Player's Standing In The GOAT Lists?

[Round Mound]

I guess fans of Lebron, Kareem, Karl Malone definitely value their longevity as players.

Me I value Peak Play like that of players like Bird, Hakeem and Barkley etc

[Lebron23]

I guess fans of Lebron, Kareem, Karl Malone definitely value their longevity as players.

Me I value Peak Play like that of players like Bird, Hakeem and Barkley etc

Lebron James is averaging 29 ppg at 37. Barkley retired at 37 after he had a devastating knee injury

[Spurs m8]

Longevity barely moves the needle...especially if you're talking about stats..especially when padded and in a league of inflated stats

[SATAN]

I guess fans of Lebron, Kareem, Karl Malone definitely value their longevity as players.

Me I value Peak Play like that of players like Bird, Hakeem and Barkley etc

It's very likely LeBron, Kareem and Malone (didn't know he had fans tbh) fans also value peak play.

I've never seen it the same way so many seem to. The rings thing and disregarding the players team and circumstances is probably the dumbest part of it all. Or being outright deceptive like 3ball tries to. The goat argument is just ****ing retarded at this point. It's completely fine to just disagree about someone's favorite player or who they think is best and leave it at that. It's actually embarrassing seeing the way so called basketball fans act sometimes. From personal experience beyond internet trolls, the people I've known to get so heated about the goat argument are ****ING CASUALS that never played, never really watched much basketball at all outside of the 90s. You can't make this shit up. That's how stupid it all is. I listen to them and don't even respond anymore. Most MJ stans are ****ing stupid pricks. The kind of people who just talk and talk and talk but say nothing at all important. A constant stream of immature garbage acting like know it alls but never realizing how absolutely clueless about the world they are.

Absolute clowns. Like the poster above me.

[Round Mound]

In my case i prefer what player was better which goes beyond stats and results. It's how much impact a player has in game. How scary a player is while causing havoc in all areas of the game and in clutch situations aswell. Players with better healthy will have better looking cumulative stats ofcourse. Malone cumulative stats look better than Barkley's but if i had to choose a player to go to war in one game or a single finals series etc i would pick healthy in shape peak Barkley in a heart beat. Malone not only lasted longer his scoring was easier because of Stockton. Barkley was a lazy player at times but when pissed off no other PF had more 30 points and 20 rebounds games like he did. Hakeem had more impact that any player but MJ in the mid 80s aswell. And Barkley from 89-90 to 92-93 was the 2nd best player in the game relative to both offensive and DEFENSIVE help in ones team.

[SpaceJam]

Both

[TheGoatest]

If a player has the greatest season of all time:

1 vote shy of unanimous MVP
2nd in DPOY voting
All-NBA 1st and All-Defensive 1st team
Finals MVP
Championship

And on top of this he has the GOAT longevity, then he is indisputably the GOAT. Hands down.
But this aside, longevity is generally favored over peak/prime, although some combination of both is always taken into account.

[jalbert009]

Longetivity and peak is both important and compliment each other. I think for GOAT criteria a decade of dominance is like the minimum which could easily be justified by x10 All NBA Team selections or/and x10 all star appearances and after that its just bonus points. This GOAT criteria is what seperates your Bill Waltons, Willis Reed and Bob McAdoos who are all MVPs, NBA Champions, All NBA team , All stars etc but their peaks just wasnt long enough to elevate their claim to Top 10 GOAT status.

[Full Court]

Longevity is A factor....but certainly not one of the top three most important ones, and really only comes into play when all else is equal.

[RogueBorg]

I guess fans of Lebron, Kareem, Karl Malone definitely value their longevity as players.

Me I value Peak Play like that of players like Bird, Hakeem and Barkley etc

Longevity is important but it can hurt Lebron in certain comparisons. Lebron is now in year 19 and has only been 1st-Team All-Defensive Team 5x, that's a huge knock compared to Jordan's 9 in 15 or even Kobe's 12 in 20. 4 MVP's in 19 years is looking worse compared to 5 in 15. When that becomes 4 in 20, 4 in 21, or 4 in 22 it's gonna look even worse. And now that Lebron is getting older his team's are struggling to make the playoffs. An argument against Jordan was the 2 years he missed the playoffs with Washington, which is a fair argument, it's on his resume. But now that Lebron is getting older he's going to start suffering from some of the same old age blemishes. Lebron is running the risk of missing the playoffs now 4x in his career, and it's not going to get better as he gets older.

Regardless, Lebron passed Jordan years ago in total points, assists, and rebounds and yet the consensus is, by most, that Jordan's the GOAT. Kareem's the all-time leading scorer right now. He has more total points, total rebounds, total assists, and total blocks over Jordan, yet Jordan is still considered the GOAT over Kareem by a large majority. Leborn passing Kareem doesn't change a thing, his Stans know it and it drives them bananas.

[expansionera]

Being the greatest and winning rings in multiple eras is a great look for GOAT status

[RogueBorg]

Being the greatest and winning rings in multiple eras is a great look for GOAT status

Losing rings in multiple eras is not a great look.

[expansionera]

Losing rings in multiple eras is not a great look.

Losing and winning in the Finals across multiple eras is superior to never making the Finals at all outside of a specific weaker era.

[8Ball]

I guess fans of Lebron, Kareem, Karl Malone definitely value their longevity as players.

Me I value Peak Play like that of players like Bird, Hakeem and Barkley etc

LeBron had a higher peak play than Bird / Hakeem / Barkley.


2012 LeBron was as good as any Bird / Hakeem peak year and higher than any Barkley year.

[FKAri]

It answers questions regarding versatility and consistency but nothing beyond that.