Who is the GOAT?

One of the most debated topics amongst basketball fans is often about who the greatest to ever play was. This can often become very complicated due to many factors that have evolved and changed during different eras. Training, conditioning, and recovery has developed leading to players having greater longevity in their careers compared to previous eras. In addition to this, the rise of the 3 point shot in recent years has created an increase in scoring which makes it challenging to compare player’s scoring abilities in different eras of the league. To take a further look into this debate, I will be looking at various statistics to help determine who the true GOAT is.

The first statistic that will be looked at is the Player Efficiency Rating (PER). This stat aims to put all of a player’s abilities and ways they contribute to their team into one complete number. According to Basketball Reference, the top 5 players in this category are: 1. Nikola Jokic (28.08) ; 2. Michael Jordan (27.91) ; 3. Lebron James (27.06); 4. Anthony Davis (26.84); 5. Shaquille O’Neal (26.43). This stat does a good job of showing all of the different impacts a player makes on the offensive side of the court. Because PER only uses blocks and steals in the defensive aspect of it, this number is not a strong method to determine a player’s defensive ability.

When it comes to assessing a player’s ability on the defensive side of the court, it is much more challenging to measure. Defensive Rating is a statistic that can be used to look at this, although it does not really show a player’s true effectiveness as a defender. This stat is often influenced by the defense of their teammates and overall team defense and also does not take into account the caliber of player that is being guarded. According to Basketball Reference, the top 5 players in this category are: 1. Andre Drummond; 2. Rudy Gobert; 3. Deandre Jordan; 4. Kawhi Leonard; 5. Draymond Green. Despite this data, one of the biggest flaws is that this statistic was not created until 2004, making it challenging to compare modern players to previous eras in this aspect. Because of this, it does not seem that this statistic can be used to help us determine who the true GOAT is.

In my opinion in order to be considered the GOAT, you have to be a winner. There have been many amazing players throughout the history of the NBA, but there are very few who have been able to be the best player on numerous championship teams. Measuring this is also very challenging because of the smaller amount of teams in the NBA during earlier eras. For example, Bill Russell won 11 titles in 13 years as a player, but there were only 8 teams in the NBA when he won his first 4 titles and 14 teams when he ended his career. This is not to discredit Russell’s accomplishments, but to show that you cannot compare Russell’s 11 titles to players in later eras. To look at this measurement, we will look at players who won titles after 1980 when the league expanded to 23 teams. After 1980, the player with the most titles is Robert Horry (7). While Horry is a proven winner who made many huge plays, he was a solid role player on these teams and not someone franchises aimed to build around. Looking after 1980, other than Horry, the players to win the most titles are Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen each with 6. It should be noted that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also won 6 titles, though 1 of the 6 took place in 1971 when there were only 17 teams in the NBA. On these Chicago Bulls teams that Jordan and Pippen played for, Jordan was the undisputed best player and leader of this team. From this point of view, it is safe to say that Jordan was the best winner to ever play the game.

Based on PER rating and the number of titles won after the NBA expanded, I believe Michael Jordan is the clear GOAT at this time in the history of the game. A better way to look at this is to define GOATS of each era. I will break up each era by decades starting in the 1950s.

1950s: Bob Pettit – Pettit won 2 MVPS during this era and won the NBA title in 1958. He averaged 26.4 PPG and 16.2 RPG. He was the first player to win multiple MVPs.

1960s: Bill Russell – Russell and Wilt Chamberlain dominated the league during the 60s, both winning 4 MVPs each. Russell takes the edge in this era due to the titles he won.

1970s: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – During the 1970s, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 28.6 PPG, 14.8 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 3.5 BPG. He also won 6 MVP awards between 1971-1980 and titles in 1971 and 1980.

1980s: Magic Johnson – During the 1980s, Johnson won 5 titles and 3 MVP awards. Johnson and Bird were the two most successful players in this era, but Johnson takes the edge due to his 5 titles between 1980-88.

1990s: Michael Jordan – During the 1990s, Jordan tore up the league winning 6 titles and 5 MVP awards. He was the clear best player during the 1990s.

2000s: Kobe Bryant – Between 2000-2010, Bryant won 5 NBA titles. He won the MVP award in 2008 and also led the league in scoring twice in 2006 and 2007.

2010s: Lebron James – Between 2010-2020, James won 4 NBA titles and 3 MVP awards. He dominated the league between 2010-2020 and was the clear best player in the league during this time.

It will be interesting to see who ends up becoming the next name in the GOAT debate. Please let me know your thoughts and any other names that should be in the discussion!

Links to sources used: https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/per_career.html; https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/def_rtg_active.html; https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/who-scored-the-most-points-in-the-nba-in-the-1950s; https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=kareem+abdul-jabbar+averages+in+the+70s