Kobestans going full retard in here.
How da fukk does winning an extra title, with the same number of Finals MVPs, make you worse? You're saying that if Kareem had tanked in the 1st-round in 1988, that his legacy would have been better?
I have NEVER seen an argument that dumb. Some people say that Kobe's first three titles aren't as important because Shaq was the #1, but I've never met someone stupid enough to claim that Kobe would have been better off only winning 2 titles so that he'd have all the Finals MVPs to himself.
This is as idiotic as those claims that losing in the first round is better than losing in the Finals.
That logic IS used with Kareem. His titles ARE worth less than if he was the undisputed best player on all six teams, and everyone knows this.
Kareem was MVP six times, won six titles, record 19-time all-star, is the all-time scoring leader. If Finals MVP didn't matter, it would be KAREEM, not Jordan, who would be listed as the indisputable GOAT.
Instead, people honestly argue whether Magic or Kareem was better. If being the best player on your championship team didn't matter, then Kareem would win that argument in a landslide and there wouldn't be a discussion.
These are the indisputable top-5 players
Jordan: 5 MVPs and 6 Finals MVPs
Kareem: 6 MVPs and 2 Finals MVPs
Magic: 3 MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs
Lebron: 4 MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs
The fifth is very arguable - might be Wilt or Hakeem or Duncan...maybe an outside argument for Shaq or Bird for some people.
Kareem clearly belongs in that top indisputable group even with only 2 Finals MVPs. None one else has 6 MVPs, no one else is the all-time scoring leader. If he retired at 38 so that Magic/Worthy weren't able to help carry him to his last two titles, would he still be ranked the same? Of course he would. Those last two titles are a very small part of his legacy, because he was clearly a sidekick by that point. His 6 MVPs and 2 Finals MVPs and four titles before then had already cemented his legacy.
If Finals MVP doesn't matter, then why doesn't everyone make a big deal about 3-time champion Wade (1 Finals MVP) and 4-time champion Tony Parker (1 Finals MVP) and 6-time champion Pippen (0 Finals MVP) and 8-time champion Havlicek (1 Finals MVP) and 10-time champion Sam Jones? Why don't their titles get them into the discussion with the others?
Whose logic? NO ONE I've ever met says that Finals MVPs are the sole measure with which to rank players. It would be stupid to say that.
Kareem has 6 MVP awards, Duncan has 2. Kareem is the all-time scoring leader, Duncan ain't even top-10. There are plenty of other reasons to rank Kareem ahead of Duncan - you don't look at Finals MVPs alone and claim that a difference of "1" therefore determines everything.
You made up some false bullshyt argument in your head and then created an entire thread to yell at it.