KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR REACTS TO MICHAEL JORDAN WINNING COLLEGE BASKETBALL BRACKET

[Professor Emeritus]

Some dudes were saying bill walton had a better college career too

Bill Walton had a better career

I came in to say this. He went five fukking years without losing a game. From the middle of his junior year in high school to the middle of his senior year in college, he didn't experience a loss ONCE. That's fukking insane. And the only reason they finally did lose is because Walton broke his back, otherwise he might have finished his entire college career without an L.

The finals should have been between KAJ and Walton with KAJ winning in a runaway. MJ's career didn't even touch theirs.

MJ won a chip as the 3rd option his freshmen year, then got upset before the semis in four straight tourneys after that. How can MJ stans say that winning the chip is all that matters and then pump up the guy who didn't win a single tournament as the #1?

Bill Walton is one of the most overrated NBA players ever.

But the main reason for that (other than his flash in the pan '77 title) is how dominant he was in college.

As far as collegiate players go, Walton is a close second behind Kareem IMO.

That's slander to call that shyt a "flash in the pan". He came in as the #1 pick and was ready to dominate the NBA and just got fukked up by completely random injuries. Then in his first halfway healthy season he wins the chip and Finals MVP 1977, the next season in 1978 he had the Blazers looking like one of the most dominant teams ever until he got knocked out with a broken foot. Was 50-10 at the moment and the Blazers were a lock to repeat, he was voted NBA MVP even though he did play the last 22 games on the strength of how fukking dominant those first 60 games looked.

There's only so many players who have won a Finals MVP and a regular season MVP in back-to-back years. There's only 3-4 players who have EVER had a team looking as good as those 50-10 Blazers looked in 1978.

You should read The Breaks of the Game. Inside story of that team, Pulitzer Prize-level reporter who was embedded with the team the whole time, rare you get such a close look by such a good writer.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

Kareem should be mad at himself, he chose to stay reclusive and not be as commercial & this is 1 of the side effects of that

The lunacy in this statement is that facts should be ignored and bias shown against Cap's career because he wasn't a media darling? That's like you being the best at what you do at your corporate gig, but not get any raises, promotions, or recognition because you don't hang out with your co-workers during happy hour...... yall need to do better man.... Cap not being media friendly only means something to white people.....

 

[Sccit]

His 6 rings don't equal to Mikes. He wasn't a dominant player in either of his last 2.Matter of fact he wasnt that dominant in any of the last 4 championship runs. Definitely not comparable to MJ's

WAS AN ALL-STAR TIL THE DAY HE RETIRED

HE AVERAGED 20-7-2 IN THE 87 PLAYOFFS .. SO MAYBE NOT PRIME KAREEM BUT STILL A FORCE AND AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT BACK-TO-BACK RUN.

 

[YoungMoneyCashMoneyBoy]

Imagine the honor Cap must've felt to find out he'd be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama......only to find out he'd be receiving it on the same day as Mike and having to sit through this:



"There is a reason you call somebody 'The Michael Jordan of....'. The Michael Jordan of neurosurgery; The Michael Jordan of Rabbis; The Michael Jordan of outrigger canoeing and they know exactly what you're talking about. Because Michael Jordan is the Michael Jordan of Greatness. He is the definition of somebody so great at what they do that everybody recognizes you."

 

[Sccit]

Russell would've easily had the most

RUSSELL WAS A 5TH OPTION ON SOME OF THEM CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

 

[Nero Christ]

The lunacy in this statement is that facts should be ignored and bias shown against Cap's career because he wasn't a media darling? That's like you being the best at what you do at your corporate gig, but not get any raises, promotions, or recognition because you don't hang out with your co-workers during happy hour...... yall need to do better man.... Cap not being media friendly only means something to white people.....

no one's saying facts should be ignored, but you also can't ignore other parts of "the game" What you do on the court is only 1 part of the equation, other sides have to be taken care of to insure you're recognized and remembered, that's just a simple fact of life. New players come up every year constantly putting pressure on your legacy and sometimes what keeps it alive are the classic commercials and the talking heads constantly singing your praises. Cap not being media friendly or visible in the media means something with each new generation (black, white, latino, asian kids alike) coming up having never seen a game of his, while also not seeing any shoes named after him, commercials starring him, or "analysts" talking about him.

I too wish only facts played into recognition of greatness but it ain't, the other stuff forms the entire opinion about you. Narratives matter, especially in the world we live in currently. Jordan's been framed as the GOAT basketball player, why wouldn't people who never saw him or Cap play cbball think he wasn't the GOAT there either

 

[The_Sheff]

dk why yall mad at espn, fans voted for MJ

& Kareem should be mad at himself, he chose to stay reclusive and not be as commercial & this is 1 of the side effects of that

even Bill has the FMVP named after him so he'll be visible every year at the end of the season

The fans that would bother voting in this aren't ones who can properly frame the discussion. I'm willing to bet that most of the fans voting never saw Kareem Or JORDAN play in college. Hell most of them never saw Jordan play for the Bulls.

 

[Nero Christ]

The fans that would bother voting in this aren't ones who can properly frame the discussion. I'm willing to bet that most of the fans voting never saw Kareem Or JORDAN play in college. Hell most of them never saw Jordan play for the Bulls.

I noted that in my post above yours...more than likely the majority of voters haven't seen 1 game either one played in college but for decades & currently, Jordan has been framed as the "GOAT" basketball player & far more visible on people's TV...you can't be surprised people voted this way.

 

[mastermind]

That affects bill russell, not kareem.

Well that’s the point.

Russell would lead the category and I’m sure you’d find ways to Juelz around that.

 

[YoungMoneyCashMoneyBoy]

Well that’s the point.

Russell would lead the category and I’m sure you’d find ways to Juelz around that.

The discussion the other poster and myself were in was with respect to Jordan and Kareem.....just as this thread is.

That's the point.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

It's funny how kareem spent his career shunning the media and fans, not caring about their opinions and making it known he wasn't defined by basketbal but ever since he retired, stays complaining about GOAT lists, not being respected, not getting a statue fast enough, etc.

Even funnier seeing people talk about 60s ucla basketball and couldnt name one team cap defeated for a title without googling it or any center he went up against in those games. Parroting at its finest. Behs bringing high school basketball in the 60s too ..Folks were dribbling with one hand and looking at the ground the entire time.

The funny things is that Kareem has gotten SLIGHTLY overrated recently. His best years were in the 70s when the league was split until 76.

Then in the 80s Magic was the best player on those teams.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Cap is probably the GOAT Hoops player overall period

No he isn't

 

[YoungMoneyCashMoneyBoy]

The funny things is that Kareem has gotten SLIGHTLY overrated recently. His best years were in the 70s when the league was split until 76.

Then in the 80s Magic was the best player on those teams.

No doubt. That's why comparing his 6 titles to mj's is disingenuous. Magic was the leader on a majority of those chips.

In Kareem's final 8 years, Magic collected 3 MVPs, was second in MVP voting once and third four times. Cap never collected a single MVP or finished top 3 in MVP voting those years. That's why longevity stats don't mean much to me. Were you the leader of the team or were you just along for the ride? What was your rate of production? Those are the questions I ask when looking at longevity stats. Anybody can sit back and collect stats when you got a perennial mvp candidate doing the heavy lifting as magic was doing.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

No doubt. That's why comparing his 6 titles to mj's is disingenuous. Magic was the leader on a majority of those chips.

In Kareem's final 8 years, Magic collected 3 MVPs, was second in MVP voting once and third four times. Cap never collected a single MVP or finished top 3 in MVP voting those years. That's why longevity stats don't mean much to me. Were you the leader if the team or were you just along for the ride? What was your rate of production? Those are the questions I ask when looking at longevity stats. Anybody can sit back and collect stats when you got a perennial mvp candidate doing the heavy lifting as magic was doing.

Yep. He was still great but Magic surpassed him.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

No doubt. That's why comparing his 6 titles to mj's is disingenuous. Magic was the leader on a majority of those chips.

How many of those games did you see... Cap had to be like 24 and 10 during those Laker playoff runs.... You speak of dominance.... Lakers aint winning shyt without Kareem on those squads...... but I'll let you reinvent the narrative....