Who Is The Greatest NBA Player Of All Time?

Who Is The Greatest NBA Player Of All Time?

(This article could really apply to any sport, but I’ve decided to write it about the NBA)

Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Bill Russel, and Tim Duncan are a few players that come to mind when we think about the GOAT. Let’s settle this debate and start off by taking a look at who the candidates are.

I’ve looked through multiple All-Time Rankings lists to pick out the top three candidates. (Here are a few lists I used)

ESPN Top 3: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Bleacher Report Top 3: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Complex: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, KareemAbdul-Jabbar

Stephen A. Smith: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, KareemAbdul-Jabbar

Skip Bayless: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Shaquile O’Neal

Bill Simmons: Michael Jordan, Bill Russel, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Based on most of the rankings I’ve seen, I decided to pick Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant as the candidates to look at.

I created two spreadsheets, one that compares the players stats, and one for accolades. If you don’t know what any of these stat or accolade abbreviations mean reference this-

PPG- Points Per Game

APG- Assists Per Game

RPG- Rebounds Per Game

STL- Steals Per Game

BLK- Blocks Per Game

TO- Turnovers Per Game

FT%- Free Throw Percentage Made

FG%- Field Goal Percentage Made (% of shots made)

3FG%- 3 Point Field Goal Percentage Made (% of three pointers made

MPG- Minutes Per Game

Finals W- Finals Win

MVP- Most Valuable Player

DPOY- Defensive Player Of The Year

ROTY- Rookie Of The Year

All NBA- All NBA Teams Made

All Def- All Defensive Teams Made

F MVP- Finals MVP

Statistics

Accolades

These stats can’t really tell the whole story. You can look through the entirety of both of these spreadsheets and it will tell you absolutely nothing. You might be wondering why I would even waste the time to make the spreadsheets, and it is to help prove my point- It doesn’t matter who any of us think the greatest player of all time is because there is no correct answer. I can’t sit here and write that just because Michael Jordan averaged more PPG than any other player on this list that he is the GOAT. We will never know who the best NBA player is because it’s impossible to compare them. Even MJ agrees that you can’t call even himself the GOAT, so I’ll end this article with this quote-

"For you to say that I'm better than him, I mean it's your opinion. It's their opinion. I accept that as their opinion. If you ask me, I would never say that I'm the greatest player." - Michael Jordan