The Four Permanent Members of G.O.A.T. Discussion

[CavaliersFTW]

PERMANENT MEMBERS OF G.O.A.T. DISCUSSION

WILT - MJ - KAREEM - RUSSELL

****EDIT*****
This is not intended to be a "complete" closed list of GOAT candidates nor is it in any particular order!!!!!!!!! - ANYONE else you feel should be a GOAT candidate is fine - but that doesn't mean these guys aren't. That is the point I'm trying to make. These guys should always be in the discussion regardless of who else you have in the discussion.

This isn't in any kind of order - they just need to be there:


Wilt - the MDE (most dominant ever). The rift between him and everyone else was so wide it boggles the mind - he dominated competition more than anyone in the history of the NBA and yes that includes Shaq - The record books - The positive impact he had on a developing NBA - The numerous basketball rule-book changes to stop him - and the almost unanimous testimony from his peers that he was the "best" strongest/most unstoppable/greatest individual athlete they've ever seen etc - It isn't about rings for Wilt (though he did finally win 2 rings as the clear-cut Finals MVP's). If he wasn't asked to change his game, he'd have a stupefying career ppg - If more stats were tracked he'd have even more mind boggling records. Changing his game for his teams doesn't hurt his reputation it helps it. He settled for what would eventually be a mere virtual ppg tie with MJ to get those 2 rings - he aint half bad.




The second one is obvious to all IH fan's because he's the most recent on this list and I assume most people here are young but old enough to remember at least the 2nd 3-peat series. Two 3-peats have something to do with him being here, lol, and most importantly of all IMHO it was his "complete"-ness as a player. He had very few flaws you could ever exploit in the beginning of his career and the ones he did have he seemed to work at and correct until he really had none. The "complete" game he had and the intense will too win wasn't entirely new he took that page out of Oscar Robertson's book - The Big-O may have been the first "complete" player before MJ but... once those 6 rings instead of one and those individual accolades kept pouring in - MJ's "greatness" raised the bar for all non-centers... In addition to those 6 rings, statistically and defensively he's almost become the Wilt Chamberlain of NBA guards. Highest PPG average of all-time.




Kareem dominated at every level. Period. Skyhook, period. Another player that caused basketball rule changes. 3 straight HS championships 3 straight NCAA championships nearly undefeated, 6 NBA championships - countless individual accolades include most points in NBA history... Just wikipedia him to get the rough idea. Study his games on film, including his battle with Willis Reed in the 70's it's on youtube. You absolutely CAN NOT leave him out of the discussion. Among the most complete centers in NBA history with very few weaknesses to his game. He's literally every bit as dominant relative to his competition as Shaq was during his prime and that's something the younger IH members might not realize - the dominance relative to his peers of Shaq yet he accomplished a lot more than Shaq did - the amount of times he won basketball titles in his career are second only to the next guy.




Bill Russell. Yet another man shaping basketball's rules in order to slow him down. More rings than fingers. 2x NCAA champ, Olympic Gold Medalist, 11 rings in 13 NBA seasons. (that's 14 titles in 15 years...) The best winner in basketball history, period. The integral glue to the most dominant dynasty in NBA history, period. Among the most ruthless, intimidating psychologically superior defensive fortresses in the history of the NBA. He simply did whatever it took to help the Celtics win and he convinced himself, his teammates, and the league that the Celtics could not lose. Offensively he wasn't concerned, he had support to take care of that but he also produced when his team needed him too - this is often overlooked. Defensively in the low-post he was as close as anyone from that time to Wilt Chamberlain, and in the high post he was hands down the best by a wide margin. He and/or Wilt are the two best rebounding centers in NBA history, and Bill is the better playoff rebounder. Bill's game almost always elevated in the playoffs and finals. He'd be #1 or #2 in blocked shots of all time (competing with Wilt) if the stats were recorded, and he'd additionally have have more steals than most any NBA big man in history - as can be observed in archived newspaper stats - his agility and defense in the high-post can't be understated, he had Olympic potential as a track athlete. His defense and intangibles also cannot be overstated. He's probably the best defensive big man, perhaps even the best defensive player, in NBA history. These things absolutely outweighed his offensive value, if you don't think so just look at how much he won.



All four should always be GOAT candidates. You can add more if you'd like, but these four are cemented in the discussion and if they aren't you probably don't know enough NBA history to be trying to figure out who the Greatest Of ALL Time is.

[B]

Wilt doesn't have the post season success to be on that list

[stallionaire]

LeBron James.

[Doctor Rivers]

LeBron James.

+1

[Horatio33]

Magic instead of Wilt.

[lilgodfather1]

They won't be there forever, especially when the robots start playing. When Wilt Chamberbot starts putting up 1000000 point games, and putting up 50000ppg seasons Wilt Chamberlain will be a thing of the past.

Not to mention Micheal Botan wins 60 championships on two thirty peats MJ will be forgotten. And then of course Bot Russell will win 1100 championships in 1300 years, playing most of his career with Bot Cousy.

[stallionaire]

They won't be there forever, especially when the robots start playing. When Wilt Chamberbot starts putting up 1000000 point games, and putting up 50000ppg seasons Wilt Chamberlain will be a thing of the past.

Not to mention Micheal Botan wins 60 championships on two thirty peats MJ will be forgotten. And then of course Bot Russell will win 1100 championships in 1300 years, playing most of his career with Bot Cousy.

[CavaliersFTW]

[QUOTE=B

[hops and stops]

No Kobe Bryant?? I dont like this list.

[COLOR="White"]=)[/COLOR]

[Whoah10115]

It's not my list and they don't need to be there. Magic is better than all of them bar Michael. I don't get the way Kareem is rated (not because he's not good enough), but considering how others are rated...



I also have Larry Bird ahead of the three centers. That's me tho.

[B]

Magic didn't play Bill Russell

You're correct he didn't. Wilt did though and failed every single time so how can you have Wilt in a discussion for GOAT when he's going up against the very guy in Russell who knocked him down time and time again.

BTW I never mentioned Magic. Not sure why you started your post off that way

[caliman]

Magic instead of Wilt.

this

[FKAri]

They won't be there forever, especially when the robots start playing. When Wilt Chamberbot starts putting up 1000000 point games, and putting up 50000ppg seasons Wilt Chamberlain will be a thing of the past.

Not to mention Micheal Botan wins 60 championships on two thirty peats MJ will be forgotten. And then of course Bot Russell will win 1100 championships in 1300 years, playing most of his career with Bot Cousy.

Aliens >>> Robots.

More creative; adapt better to different defenses; Cthulu may not have the bots' power but he still has the quickness to get him a 132 inch vertical in 10x Earth's gravity.

Michael Jordan, who? Weak era playing with unathletic humans.

[Sarcastic]

[QUOTE=B

[CavaliersFTW]

Magic instead of Wilt.

Nobody replaces those 4, if you don't know why learn about them. That's not saying Magic cant be discussed with them he certainly can - but he isn't replacing anyone on that list that was the point of it - it isn't a list of the "only" GOAT candidates it's just a list of ones IH member's - such as yourself - should not be dismissing.