NBA legend Julius Erving believes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest basketball player in history ahead of the more common choices of Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
Erving enjoyed a legendary ABA run back int he 1970s, establishing himself as one of the best players in the game. After the league merged with the NBA following the 1975-76 season, Erving made the All-Star Game for 11 straight seasons before retiring in 1987.
While Erving – the eighth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history with 30,026 points – is an all-time great and a Hall of Famer, he would perhaps be ranked higher but for a player that stood in his way. The rivalry between Erving and Abdul-Jabbar spanned for years and headlined three meetings in the NBA Finals.
In an interview on the Mark Jackson Show, Erving shone a light on on Abdul-Jabbar and his impact on his own career, saying: Kareem was always the guy standing in my way. I was always in his shadow because of the years in which we played… Personally, that was the guy who I look at as probably the GOAT.
Across a 20-year career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA Championships (five with the Lakers and one with the Bucks) and was a 19-time All-Star with career averages of 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per contest. A record six-time MVP, Abdul-Jabbar also shot 55.9 percent from the field in 1,560 regular season games.
On top of this, Abdul-Jabbar is renowned as the greatest college player in history, winning three successive NCAA titles while also clinching three National college player of the year awards. He was also the a three-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player recipient, and had his No. 33 jersey retired by the UCLA Bruins to highlight the mark he left on the college game.
Abdul-Jabbars dominance and body of work across both the collegiate and professional arenas means he is a strong choice to be deemed the GOAT. But for most fans, Jordan and James represent the choices to sit on the throne.
Jordans case is clear. A six-time NBA champion and six-time Finals MVP with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s. The 14-time All-Star stands as a global icon and even the league acknowledges his greatness; his profile on the NBA website reads: By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.
The modern answer to Jordan in the GOAT debate, James has won four NBA championships from 10 NBA Finals appearances, having made eight consecutive appearances between 2011 and 2018. The four-time MVP surpassed Abdul-Jabbar as the NBAs all-time leading scorer, and ranks fourth in career assists and eighth in steals, highlighting his remarkable versatility.
But for Erving, Abdul-Jabbar stands clear. The rivals met three times in the NBA Finals, with Abdul-Jabbar winning rings in 1980 and 1982 before Erving finally got his championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. Their shared history undoubtedly leads Erving to hold immense respect for Abdul-Jabbar, who has somewhat been forgotten in the GOAT debate in favor of Jordan and James.
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