Comparisons within a sport are complicated and almost always lead to controversy. It is almost impossible to match one era with another because of how dissimilar they are. So it is with a debate such as who is the GOAT in NBA history. Michael Jordan? LeBron James? Anyone else?
In this regard, Julius Erving, former NBA player, 1983 Champion and Hall of Famer, threw a dart that further inflamed the discussion. For the former Philadelphia 76ers star, there are two types of answers to the question of the league’s GOAT. The one given by fans and the one that comes from those who practiced the sport professionally.
In this sense, Erving accepts that the generalized discourse of the fans puts Michael Jordan, multi-champion with the Chicago Bulls, or LeBron James, 4 times king of the NBA. However, Dr. J points out that players in the game, like him, have another colleague as their GOAT.
Who is Julius Erving’s NBA GOAT?
Julius Erving would have neither Michael Jordan nor LeBron James as the occupant of the league’s pedestal. That place would belong to another superstar, also a true legend of the game, who dominated the NBA court long before the aforementioned Bulls and Lakers stars.
“I think it’s the fans argument, not the players argument. So I stay away from it. My all time greatest player is Kareem Abdul Jabbar,” Dr. J stated in response to his opinion of the NBA GOAT debate,according to NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
There is no doubt that both Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and even Kobe Bryant, and now LeBron James and Stephen Curry have marked an era in their respective periods in the NBA. Beyond the merely quantitative numbers (titles, points scored, rebounds, etc.), the debate about who has been the best will always be open to controversy, between fans, current and former players.