Why are many basketball fans so obsessed with rankings?

[SuperPippen]

Of all of the sports I've followed and have been a part of informed discussions/message boards, it seems like basketball is the sport with the fan following that's the most obsessed with RANKINGS.

Why?

Why is it that this sport inspires so many "fans" (at least, those on this website) to blindly sing the praises of their favorite player(s)and to aimlessly bad-mouth and and criticize others?

Many of the people on this website seem to not actually care about discussing basketball; rather, they seem to be content rambling on and on about any certain player's placement on "the GOAT list," a completely abstract, hypothetical type of ranking system, which many people seem to regard as some sort of omnipotent, end-all be-all final judgment of a player's true merit.

I ask you, is this constant arguing ever going to accomplish anything? When did the fans become so fixated on mindlessly comparing every little facet of one player to another?

Why do we continue to endlessly over-analyze these players to the most minute, inconsequential detail, only to use these observations and details to belittle other players and posters with differing opinions?

Why is it that no other sport seems to have this problem (at least, not to the degree to which it is manifested on this board)?

Will we ever be able to simply appreciate all of the great players that have impacted the beautiful game of basketball in their own ways, without devolving into constant argument?

[AlphaWolf24]

Kobe>MJ

[SuperPippen]

Kobe>MJ

That's nice.

[JellyBean]

Basketball fans more obessed with rankings? Are u sure? Compared with football (college or pro), I think that we are normal. Plus it is fun.

[Heavincent]

Basketball fans more obessed with rankings? Are u sure? Compared with football (college or pro), I think that we are normal. Plus it is fun.

Football fans aren't anywhere near as obsessed with ranking individual players as NBA fans are.

[bballnoob1192]

Why are many basketball fans so obsessed with rankings?

well IMO i think it is because 1 player can have so much impact on a basketball game unlike say football or baseball. For example a superstar in basketball can win one game by himself by scoring 60+ points. thats why people are so obsess with ranking players in basketball

and if u are talking about team ranking then basketball fans dont usually go crazy over team rankings, cuz everyone knows its Lakers/Celtics then bulls then everyone else in term of rankings

[catch24]

I feel you OP. Basketball is the one sport where opinions = "facts". I've seen baseball fans debate who the GOAT is (Ruth vs Cobb), football fans debate who the best RB was (Payton vs Sanders) and while the arguments can get heated, they rarely cross the line and get personal/disrespectful (from what I've seen at least). Nor do they trigger the amount of trolling that almost go hand in hand with basketball discussions.

[The-Legend-24]

[SuperPippen]

I'd be insulted if you, of all people, DID take the time to read it.

So, thank you very, very much.

[97 bulls]

I agree super pippen. But whts most frustrating is the inconsistancy. Some people like to credit only the best players on championship teams. But when the same best players loose, its the teams fault.

People tend to mistake the term "best" and "accomplished" as being the same.

Context is never considered. Neither are roles. And I've never really seen people get so miniscule when rating players, like I've seen on this board. I've seen, and find myself arguing over which jordan was better, I've seen stupid terms like "peak prime".

Its just crazy

[pauk]

Why do we continue to endlessly over-analyze these players to the most minute, inconsequential detail, only to use these observations and details to belittle other players and posters with differing opinions?

in my case... i call it... correcting the incorrect statements / opinions with FACTS........

without any data / facts there would be just a bunch of kids in here throwing opinions like farts in the sky....

[Kurosawa0]

I'd say most fans of sports argue over some kind of ranking or legacies. It's fun to think about things like "Which player is better? Rose or Durant? LeBron or Kobe?" It's a game some of us here have a passion for and care about.

Also, I do get your point though. It does get a bit silly. I mean, the way we set artificial standards for where a player ranks is a bit weak. Like if Kobe wins another ring he jumps into the top five, but if not he stays at #7. Either way, he's the same player. I'm not sure that really having six rings versus just five changes what he really is.

[reppy]

Compensating for something. Probably a small *****.

[RobertdeMeijer]

By arguing for or against players, I learn things about the players. It's also a good practice in logic.

On a higher level, it's a case for reasonable judgement, something severely lacking in post-modern society.
For me it's a relief that people can actually agree on things that are heavily subjective. It's also a relief we actually can discuss these things in a somewhat intelligent manner*

*When it comes to other topics, people either really don't know anything about it, even though they like they think they do (like discussing gender roles, where too many people take a naturalist-deterministic stance, which is highy revisionist. Think: men-are-hunters-bullcrap), or they have agendas based on bullcrap and will never change their mind, no matter how much logic and facts you throw at them (example: free market supporters), or there's the belief-wild card, which makes discussions impossible (think: discussing embryo testing)

[All Net]

Because thats all they can talk about?