Wilt and Bill rank their top 6 All-Time (1997)
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get these nets
Veteran
Wow
Either they don't think about that question very much or they got weird taste.
Wilt immediately naming two white guys first and then naming Barkley but not Hakeem or Kareem.
Interesting Russell faced West like 8 times in the finals and didn't name him. While Wilt named both West and Baylor right away... which means he's thinks those Lakers had 3 of the all-time top 7 for three years and didn't win a single title together.
Wilt immediately naming two white guys first and then naming Barkley but not Hakeem or Kareem.
Interesting Russell faced West like 8 times in the finals and didn't name him. While Wilt named both West and Baylor right away... which means he's thinks those Lakers had 3 of the all-time top 7 for three years and didn't win a single title together.
murksiderock
Superstar
Kareem's reputation has increased with time. Meaning, yes, he was always considered one of the greatest players ever, but he wasn't anywhere close to being considered a Top 3 lock by the majority of people who had the benefit of watching his entire career...
This 25-year old snippet of two of his older contemporaries proves it, and a SLAM Top 50 of the same year that placed him as the 5th or 6th greatest player ever proves it---->25 years ago, there simply were more people alive who'd seen all or at least half of Kareem's career (minimum 10 of his 20 years, meaning they'd have a working, viable memory of Kareem's career from at least 1979, if not sooner)...
Ain't nobody on this board was watching Kareem in the 70s, when he was at his apex, and this is both a microcosm of Basketball Culture today, as well as telling insight into what people who DID catch apex Kareem think...
Kareem's elevation into a Top 3 lock was established sometime within the last decade and isn't unlike the "what about Kobe" push Bean began getting once he retired...
The overwhelming majority of The Culture had Bean as clearly an All-Timer, but not anywhere close to contention for GOAT #1 or Top 5, until it became clear an active player had leapt him...
That 2000s push from Kobe, Shaq, abd Duncan, I think planted the seeds of this "what about Kareem" thing, these guys were directly threatening his historical weight. And in doing so, many people who had seen only older, aging Kareem at best, started pumping Kareem as "wait, why aren't we talking about him as the GOAT"?
By the time the mid-10s hit the Kareem Brigade that wasn't nearly as large by people who saw his career, was in full force...
Kareem is an All-Timer. He's one of the GOATs, has a case for #1 and a stronger case as Rushmore/Top 5...
It's very telling though, that he wasn't viewed as a Rushmore/GOAT 5 lock by majority of people old enough to have watched him play, and most people were not lobbying him for GOAT #1 period...
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
Seems like Kareem wasn’t revered like that (could have been personal dislike) and Wilt loved Barkley’s game.Either they don't think about that question very much or they got weird taste.
Wilt immediately naming two white guys first and then naming Barkley but not Hakeem or Kareem.
Interesting Russell faced West like 8 times in the finals and didn't name him. While Wilt named both West and Baylor right away... which means he's thinks those Lakers had 3 of the all-time top 7 for three years and didn't win a single title together.
Seems like Kareem wasn’t revered like that (could have been personal dislike) and Wilt loved Barkley’s game.
Wilt and Kareem openly feuded for decades. So I'm sure Wilt was still salty. And Russell famously got defensive about his legacy. So I have a hard time believing personal feelings didn't come into it.
In 1990, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wrote A Legendary Open Letter To Wilt Chamberlain Who Had Been Criticizing Him For Years: “You Will Be Remembered As A Whining Crybaby And A Quitter.”
Most of us are too young to remember the nasty feud between Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, two of the best big men to ever play the game of
fadeawayworld.net
Kareem's open letter to Wilt "Chumperlame"
As we saw with Harry and Meghan, royal families are often dysfunctional. Only one person gets to be King (or Queen), and everyone else has to take a step back.
www.basketballnetwork.net
Bill Russell's Epic Message To Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, Dikembe Mutombo And Alonzo Mourning: "I Would Kick Your A**."
Bill Russell is the biggest winner in NBA history, collecting 11 championships during his honored career. The Boston Celtics legend was a tremendous
fadeawayworld.net
As far as public opinion, Kareem becoming Muslim and being outspoken about a lot of public issues rubbed plenty of people the wrong way. Plus NBA basketball just wasn't all that popular in the 1970s when Kareem was peaking.
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
that was wilt at 60!? no wonder he fukked yo bish 
JUST AS I POINTED OUT
TO THESE COLI nikkaS
IN THAT D-WADE "PPL WILL FORGET
MJ" THREAD...
NOBODY WAS CALLING KAJ
THE GOAT AND NO ONE
GAVE A fukk ABOUT THAT POINTS RECORD UNTIL nikkaS STARTED
USING HIM TO DISCREDIT MJ
IN THE LAST DECADE.
ALonelyDad
Veteran
Wilt and Kareem had beef
Notice with Wilt's list that if you assume he's already counting himself and Russell, 5 of the first 6 names he put out there were '60s players. Which seems.....a stretch.
Let's throw out all the players they named (counting themselves) by their year entering the league:
1954: Pettit
1957: Russell
1958: Baylor
1959: Chamberlain
1960: West and Robertson
1979: Bird and Magic
1984: Jordan, Olajuwon, and Barkley
6 out of 11 were born between 1932 and 1938. So their claim is that the majority of the top players in NBA history learned to play in the 1940s when damn near nobody was playing basketball.
Russell did put Pettit over Kareem which is
level.
Let's throw out all the players they named (counting themselves) by their year entering the league:
1954: Pettit
1957: Russell
1958: Baylor
1959: Chamberlain
1960: West and Robertson
1979: Bird and Magic
1984: Jordan, Olajuwon, and Barkley
6 out of 11 were born between 1932 and 1938. So their claim is that the majority of the top players in NBA history learned to play in the 1940s when damn near nobody was playing basketball.
Russell did put Pettit over Kareem which is
level.
murksiderock
Superstar
JUST AS I POINTED OUT
TO THESE COLI nikkaS
IN THAT D-WADE "PPL WILL FORGET
MJ" THREAD...
NOBODY WAS CALLING KAJ
THE GOAT AND NO ONE
GAVE A fukk ABOUT THAT POINTS RECORD UNTIL nikkaS STARTED
USING HIM TO DISCREDIT MJ
IN THE LAST DECADE.
This is all facts. There are multiple indicators of how and why this groundswell of support for Kareem grew from a place it clearly wasn't at with people who actually watched this man's career...
murksiderock
Superstar
Jordan, Larry, Oscar, Elgin, Magic, Olajuwon, Pettit (Russell's list)
Larry, West, Oscar, Elgin, Jordan, Magic, Barkley (Wilt's list)
So obviously if they include themselves which is a safe bet, this was 9 of their GOAT 10 in 1997...
Kareem is unquestionably a Top 10 All-Timer, with ease, and personal or not, they'd probably mention Kareem if they were asked to list 10 guys instead of 5 (these old nikkas probably woulda named 12 or 13 players anyway
)...
I have no issue with their opinions. I have for years on here, had an issue with the clear push for Kareem, with minimal questioning or introspection into his career, by people who never saw him play like myself in my mid-30s, and by people older than me who only saw 80s Kareem...
Kareem does not typically get placed under the scrutiny and introspection other people who cats claim for GOAT get, it's like nikkas want Kareem to be assumed his place with no questions asked abd I have a problem with that because there are holes in his career that fly in the face of the position cats claim him for...
Larry, West, Oscar, Elgin, Jordan, Magic, Barkley (Wilt's list)
So obviously if they include themselves which is a safe bet, this was 9 of their GOAT 10 in 1997...
Kareem is unquestionably a Top 10 All-Timer, with ease, and personal or not, they'd probably mention Kareem if they were asked to list 10 guys instead of 5 (these old nikkas probably woulda named 12 or 13 players anyway
)...I have no issue with their opinions. I have for years on here, had an issue with the clear push for Kareem, with minimal questioning or introspection into his career, by people who never saw him play like myself in my mid-30s, and by people older than me who only saw 80s Kareem...
Kareem does not typically get placed under the scrutiny and introspection other people who cats claim for GOAT get, it's like nikkas want Kareem to be assumed his place with no questions asked abd I have a problem with that because there are holes in his career that fly in the face of the position cats claim him for...