Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the best big man to ever play in the NBA and here is why:
When you decipher between players in All Time rankings, there really isn't one thing that is the deciding factor (at least not for me). If you just value statistics, then you would go with Wilt Chamberlain.
If you just value winning/accomplishments then you have to go with Bill Russell. If it is all about individual talent, then it would be Hakeem Olajuwon. If it was dominating the paint like no other, then it would be Shaquille O'Neal.
I think that in order to be considered the best, you have to factor in a combination of these things, and really, is there anybody in the history of the sport that has the combination of dominance, talent and accomplishments that Kareem has?
His resume is a thing of legend if you ask me. Just look at what he has accomplished in his basketball career:
Three straight HS titles going 96–6 including a 72 game winning streak.
Three straight NCAA titles and a couple of player of the year awards.
Six time NBA Champ.
Two time Finals MVP.
Six time NBA MVP (finished top five in voting 15 times).
NBA Rookie of the Year.
19 time All Star.
10 time First Team All-NBA.
Five time Second Team All-NBA.
Five time All-Defensive First Team.
Six time All-Defensive Second Team.
NBA's All Time leader in points (38,387).
Third All Time in rebounds (17,440).
Third All Time in blocks (3,189).
35/15/5 player in his prime.
Career Averages of 24.6 ppg 11.2 rbg 3.6 apg 55FG% and 72FT%.
People considered the weakest part of Kareem's game to be his rebounding and defense, yet the man made 11 All Defensive Teams in his career (which is the most out of any player to ever play the game), is the third leading rebounder of All-Time ,and the third leading shot blocker of All-Time despite the fact that blocks weren't kept as an official statistic for the first four seasons of his career.
In fact, if blocks were kept as a stat during the first four seasons of his career, he would actually be the All Time leader in blocked shots with roughly 4,042 blocks.
When you are an All Time great at the area that was considered to be the weakest part of your game, that means you are a legend. He is the most durable player to ever play the game.
Not only did he play for two decades (and was an All Star in every season except for one), but to put into perspective just how much longevity he had, Kareem made All-NBA First Team over Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Patrick Ewing.
Kareem played against players from the '50s as well as players that played into the 2000s. That is just unreal.
The only player to ever win more than Kareem was Bill Russel. The only players that had better statistical numbers than him were Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.
However, no player that won more than him was as skilled or an overall dominant player like he was and no player that was better statistically won even close to what he won. That is the ultimate combination if you ask me.
The way that I look at it, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is basically the Michael Jordan of big men. You can't really look at any area of his game and say "well he didn't do this well". He had no flaws in his game.
He holds defensive records, rebounding records, shot blocking records and offensive records. People will argue that the only reason he holds any of these records is because of his longevity, but they seem to forgot that during his prime, Abdul-Jabbar was a 35/15/5/4 player and he was a winner while doing this.
He wasn't like Oscar Robertson where he just put up godly numbers on poor teams that weren't going anywhere.
Kareem was considered to be the best player in the league for probably close to 15 years and even when he was past his prime with the Lakers, he was still their go to guy.
I know that he wasn't their leading scorer at times, but make no mistake about it, when the Lakers were in need of a basket, it was the sky-hook that they turned to time and time again and more often than not, he would come through because he was a very clutch player.
People will try to bring up the fact that he played with Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson (who was past his prime with Kareem anyways) but Kareem does have six championships and none of these other players have a title without Kareem on their roster.
Now I hate it when people say so and so can't win without so and so because this is a team game and you need a team to win, so I am not trying to discredit Magic by any means because Kareem needed him just as much as Magic needed Kareem. I am just trying to point out that this is a terrible argument.
You prove yourself vs Wilt. You prove yourself vs Hakeem. You win six titles. You put up video game numbers. You win six MVPs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you are the greatest big man to ever play the game.
By: Built Ford Tough of NBA Dimensions
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