Depending on what your interests, you have probably either read or argued about who the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all Time) is in some area of life. In response to the upcoming Presidential elections, this morning a TV show had an “expert” talking about the “greatest President of all-time.”
Your age, your knowledge of history, and your political interest will impact who you think is the greatest President of all-time. If you asked Brett Wolfe, I am confident he would give arguments to claim Ronald Reagan was the greatest of all-time. If my mother was alive, the only time she would bring up Reagan would be if the debate was about the worst President of all-time. Perspective influences the GOAT discussion.
Everybody has a different set of criteria. For Presidents, the guy who made the fewest mistakes in office has to be William Henry Harrison, he died about 30 days after taking office. If it is about longest service, then one would go with FDR. Most intelligent, I am not sure how they measure it but they claim Thomas Jefferson had a 170 IQ. Harry Truman ended WW2, and George Bush handled 9/11. For determining the Presidential GOAT, everyone probably would have their own criteria.
The same things can be said about the GOAT of the NBA. Our age impacts our opinion as does our rooting interests. And even our political interests may even impact our choice for GOAT.
Although the Bulls are testing my allegiance, I have been a Bulls fan so I have biases, especially to the '90's Bulls. I have to admit that I was a LeBron “hater,” especially at the time of the ESPN Decision. So for most of LeBron's career, I would without hesitation have said,”It is not even close, Jordan is the GOAT.”
Now as I reflect, I feel it is important to acknowledge the discussion of the NBA GOAT should not limited to Michael and LeBron. It would be ridiculous not to include Bill Russell, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, or maybe Steph Curry in these discussions. Russell, Robertson, or Jabbar certainly need to be in any discussion.
I was wrong 10 years ago when I felt LeBron James should not be in the discussion about the GOAT. While I get annoyed on social media when people start arguing about the GOAT, I think that discussions about the GOAT do have value. They don’t have value when some people become angry and emotional. Discussions about the Presidential GOAT or the NBA GOAT have a value of making us pause to assess what we value and what we consider makes greatness.
If we most value championships won, points average, defensive ability, and athleticism- we may feel Michael Jordan is the GOAT. But we have to be careful, if we put too much on the value of number of championships won, maybe we need to reassess Bill Russell. Likewise if we value scoring, then maybe we have look again at Jabbar, Curry, or Bird.
If we most value physical strength, longevity, and inside/outside versatility- we may feel LeBron James is our GOAT. But again, if longevity is a big factor, we need to look again at Jabbar. And if inside/outside ability is the important criteria- Oscar Robertson, Johnson, or Bird could be the GOAT.
If we value shooting skill, then we are not talking about James or Jordon, we should be looking at Bird or Curry.
If we are just looking at Jordan and James, some factors for us to pause to think about. There is no doubt Jordan is our guy if we want to talk about loyalty- he stayed with the Bulls until the Bulls management stupidly decided to let him go. If you look at dislikable decisions, LeBron loses with his ESPN orchestrated “decision.” But if we ever found out the details on Jordan's “year off”, we might not ever want to include him in the conversation about GOAT.
If we looked at it from a perspective of impact on the game of basketball and the NBA, everyone on the list would pale in comparison to Oscar Robertson. Oscar’s work to unionize and make the NBA a viable enterprise separate him. Sadly, the reason Oscar has never been a GM or coach or the logo in the NBA is because he was willing to stand up to the owners.
If we look at how these people used their status as a basketball star to impact society, Kareem and LeBron make everyone else take a distance second. Kareem has done more as an author and speaker to help expose people to issues of Black America. LeBron with his charities has helped 1000’s of young people. Whether one agrees with Jabbar’s or LeBron’s politics, they have been willing to stand up for beliefs. Sadly, Michael never was willing to ever take stands for fear it would impact “his brand.”
I was inspired to write this after watching the 2024 USA Men’s Basketball come from behind win in the semis. LeBron James was everything that a fan, a coach, or a teammate would want on their team. When the USA got behind, he was a leader. He was not a screaming leader but a powerful leader with his interactions and by his example. When Jokic started to take over, LeBron went and guarded him. LeBron did not play hero ball, he continued to be unselfish and share the ball. As soon as the game was over, when the team got done celebrating, it was LeBron who huddled up the team and gave them the speech about “one more game.” I was absolutely and totally impressed with his leadership ability.
I realize that community involvement and social responsibility may not be factors most consider when picking the NBA GOAT. I also believe that Michael Jordan was more athletic and was indeed a little more skilled basketball players.
If I were the GM with the first pick in the draft, and both Jordan and James were coming out in the draft the same year- who would I take? Honestly, I don’t know. I would hate to pass on Jordan and become a trivia question like the GM of the Portland Trailblazers is now, after he passed on Jordan. But I think if I took Jordan, I better be able to find the next Phil Jackson to coach the team with Jordan on it. I would worry that if I selected James that he might later leave as a free agent.
As for James and Jordan- I don’t have an answer of which is the GOAT. My conclusion is that it is unfair not to include Bird, Johnson, Curry, Jabbar, Russell or Robertson in the conversation. Each of them have been able to do things that no one else has ever done. I choose to celebrate all of their greatnesses, and prefer not to try anoint any one of them.
While I don’t know who is the GOAT, if I got to pick who would be my next door neighbor, my preference would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In my mind, there is no debate on this decision!
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