Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Is the Greatest Basketball Player; My top 10 NBA Players of All Time

Let’s go…

Recently Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came out and said he felt under appreciated by the Lakers. He gave detailed reason for why he felt slighted. Most of his reason seemed practical, and even justified. One of the reasons he felt “slighted” was his lack of a statue outside of the Staples Center.

Now the act of erecting a statue is ridiculous. I mean come on, this isn’t the Roman Empire. No one is storming the Bastille.

The need for a statue is primitive, and calling for a statue is one of the most pretentious things you can call for (pretentious rankings 1. Saying “Do you know who I am?” 2. Calling for a statue 3. Anything Kanye West does).

With that being said, if the Lakers are handing out statues Kareem should be on the short list. And under no circumstance should Oscar De La Hoya get a statue before him (I don’t know what pose they used for the Oscar statue, but it should be him getting helped up off the canvas by a pile of money).

I don’t think people realize how great Kareem was. I would argue that he’s the greatest basketball player of all time and the second greatest NBA player to Michael Jordan (maybe 3rd, I probably spoke too soon). Just look at Jabbar’s numbers: 6 Championships with two different franchises, 6 MVPs, NBA all-time leading scorer, 3 NCAA Championships, Naismith College Players of the Year, and 3 high school championships.

Couple that with the fact that he invented a shot that was unstoppable, and hasn’t been duplicated since. There’s a great argument for him being the greatest player ever. So for the Lakes to understate his value is ridiculous. Unless this has something to do with whom he was off the court.

Kareem not feeling appreciated by the Lakes organization had nothing to do with basketball. I think he has compromised his relationship with them because of who he is. Jabbar is a quiet guy with an introverted personality that decided to convert to the nation of Islam at a time of high racial tension in America.

As much as people like to think there is freedom of worship in America. There is a certain stigma that surrounds black Muslims. Now consider what the city of L.A. is (fake), and it brings you to the reason why Kareem and the Lakers don’t see eye to eye…”controversy.”

The Lakers are an organization that is sponsored by large companies, and sponsors don’t like to be affiliated with controversy. Now I don’t blame the Lakers or Kareem for feeling the way they do. As a matter of fact I back both of them. Kareem should feel slighted l. He’s Kareem “bleeping” Abdul-Jabbar (man that was clunky).

On the other side the Lakers reserve the right to honor whomever they want to honor. They haven’t done anything wrong. If all Jabbar’s checks cashed, he only has the right to kick rocks.

Look if you want to be honored by people you have to make safe popular decision. Don’t stir up controversy. Now if you decide to go against that you have to accept the fact that you may be ostracized from certain arenas. With that being said, under no circumstance should Oscar De La Hoya get a statue outside of the Staples Center before a legend. He shouldn’t have a statue at all.

Ranking top ten of anything is always interesting. I wanted to rank my top ten NBA players of all time, but I didn’t want to write another post. So, I will just put it here:

Top 10 NBA Players All Time:

1. Michael Jordan: The consensus greatest NBA player of all time.

2. Bill Russell: I don’t think we need numbers. Let’s just say he went to 13 championships, and won 11. He was a player/coach for 2 of those championships. I have to put him tied at second. He played in an era where there wasn’t a lot of competition, but he went to the championship every year of his career. That just can’t be over looked. By the way dude never lost a game 7…“Huevos”

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: You’ll know the numbers. If you’ve forgotten already please read above.

4. Tim Duncan: 4 NBA Championships, 2 MVPs, 13 time NBA All Star, 8 time Defensive First Team. That’s right Timmy is 4th. He was the focal point of 4 Championship teams, and play with one hall of famer for the first one.

5. Magic Johnson: 5 NBA Championships, 3 MVPs, 12 time All Star. It’s a close call but I got to put Magic here. He could play all five positions. Went to 7 NBA finals and won 5. Arguably the greatest point guard of all time. Arguably the greatest Lakers or all time.

6. Larry Bird: 3 NBA Championships, 3 MVPs, and just flat out filthy. He owns one of the top 5 moments in all-star weekend history.

7. Kobe Bryant: 5 NBA Championships, 1 MVP, 9 time Defensive First Team, 13 time All Star, 2 time scoring champion. When it’s all said and done Kobe has the chance to be the second greatest Laker of All time.

8. Wilt Chamberlain: 2 NBA Championships, 4 MVPs, 13 time All Star, 7 time scoring champion.

9. Jerry West: He’s the logo. I NBA Championship, 12 time NBA All Star, 9 appearances in the NBA Finals, 1 NBA Scoring Title. West would be higher on the list, but I have to dock him for the number of finals lost.

10. Oscar Robertson: “The Big O”. I NBA Championship, 1 MVP, 12 time NBA All Star. Oscar is most famous for averaging a triple double in the 1961 – 62 season.

11. Hakeem Olajuwon: 2 NBA Championships, 1 MVP, 12 time NBA All Star, 2 time defensive player of the year. Hakeem was the best skilled big man since Kareem. He was the only Hall of Famer on two championship teams.

12. Shaquille O’Neal: 4 NBA Championships, 1 MVP, 15 time NBA All Star, 2 time scoring champion. For ten years Shaq was the most

Okay so I lied, and went top 12. Feel free to argue.

-Kortney Shane Williams – Comedian and Writer

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