Was Kareem Abdul Jabbar really that good?

[iamgine]

Well if you ignore his MVP awards and being the career scoring leader and basically being great for two decades and instead do your best to invent a list of negatives then sure he won't look that good.

Yes we can all agree on his accolades and longevity but can we also agree that for someone ranked that high, his team performance in the '70s were quite lacking? Was there good reason for that?

[Hammertime]

Yes we can all agree on his accolades and longevity but can we also agree that for someone ranked that high, his team performance in the '70s were quite lacking? Was there good reason for that?

Ok, be honest and don't use google. How many of these players have you heard of?

[BigShotBob]

Yes we can all agree on his accolades and longevity but can we also agree that for someone ranked that high, his team performance in the '70s were quite lacking? Was there good reason for that?

His teammates were literally on crack.

[Uncle Drew]

You are out of your mind.

You are dumb as hell.

[Dro]

The guy was highly touted as the 2nd GOAT (perhaps now overtaken by Lebron but still).

Yet in the 'weak' '70s, he only managed to win 1 title. This is despite playing for 6 seasons with Oscar Robertson and another all star in Bob Dandridge so it's not like he was playing with bad teammates like MJ.

In his 10 prime seasons before Magic, his team:

Made Finals 2x Won 1x
Lost in Conference Finals 3x
Lost in Conference Semis 2x
Lost in 1st Rnd 1x
Missed playoff 2x

I'm not sure this is really a resume worthy of how high he's usually ranked.

Even with only the footage we have on youtube, just go watch a random full game from when he was on the Bucks. Yes he was that good. The guy couldn't be stopped and he also had decent midrange, he literally was unguardable. And you can't really double him without giving up something because he was so good passing out of double teams and he would just hold the ball up so high, waving it around like a baseball, easy to hit cutters or to do pass fakes.

[superduper]

You are out of your mind.

Cockworld at it again

[kennethgriffen]

i'm glad kareem didn't face the same backlash for simply not having enough help when the players voted him MVP.... too bad the media couldn't see it the same way for Kobe in 2006 and 2007

[senelcoolidge]

Great great player. I would rank him behind Wilt as greatest center ever. If a guy is stuck in a bad or mediocre team it's not really his fault. Remember basketball is a team sport and in previous generations players were not so buddy buddy with each other..colluding or forming super teams was kinda unheard of.

[Lakers Legend#32]

Kareem did not win jack sh!t with the Lakers till Magic got there.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Yes we can all agree on his accolades and longevity but can we also agree that for someone ranked that high, his team performance in the '70s were quite lacking? Was there good reason for that?

Did you know that a player can play great in a game that his team loses? It's 5-on-5, not 1-on-1.

[Gotterdammerung]

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the right combination of Chamberlain and Russell - a great scorer who sublimated his game just enough to win titles.

But he was never as dominant as Chamberlain, or as devoted to rebounding and defense as Russell, so you could say that despite having one of the greatest career in NBA history, he still left plenty to be desired.

[iamgine]

Ok, be honest and don't use google. How many of these players have you heard of?

About 5 of them. But it's not like other teams are full of stars.

[sammichoffate]

2nd GOAT

[Elosha]

I think he's the greatest, but my dad says he didn't work hard enough on defense.

And he says that lots of times he didn't even run down court. And that he didn't really try... except during the playoffs.

Listen kid. I've been hearing that crap ever since he was at UCLA. He's out there busting his buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

Nice! I bet a lot of people here are too young to get the reference.

[colts19]

Airplane