Forget about being the best Buck of all time–Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest player to ever grace the NBA.
It’s fairly easy to make the case for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the greatest player in Milwaukee Bucks history. He leads pretty much every Buck in every category–various statistics, awards, and of course championships.
Here’s a harder sell, but one I fully intend on building a very strong case for–Kareem is the greatest ever.
That’s right, I’m saying Kareem is greater than Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Wilt Chamberlain. Most importantly, I aim to prove that Kareem is a greater player than His Airness, Michael Jordan.
Before I make my case, first I need to state some terms. Greatest is not the same as best. Best is which player is the best in a game at their peak. Kareem might well be the best ever as well, but that’s not what this article is concerned with.
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Greatness is built over time. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant can’t find themselves in this conversation yet, even if they are some of the best players the NBA has ever seen. With one championship ring and three (pending Curry winning this season) MVPs between them, they’re not in this tier of greatness yet.
Also, because Jordan is pretty universally recognized as the greatest ever I’ll only focus on him as the bar Kareem needs to pass to be the greatest ever. Sorry Bill Russell fans.
So here’s Michael Jordan’s greatest of all time resume: highest point per game scorer in NBA history (both regular season and playoffs), most wins added in the playoffs in NBA history, six-time NBA champion, five-time MVP, 14-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA First Teamer, one-time Defensive Player of the Year, nine-time All-Defensive First Teamer, Rookie of the Year, 10-time NBA leading scorer, three-time NBA steals leader.
Jordan’s case is obviously strong. He was clearly better than anyone he played against on both ends of the floor, although strangely he only got five MVP awards in his career. There’s a reason that Air Jordan is the GOAT in many people’s eyes.
His intense popularity also helped, a lot. Jordan helped to build the NBA into what it is today, and his brand is massive. That was good for basketball, there’s no doubt about it, but should popularity factor into this conversation?
There’s no one answer–greatness is not something that’s clearly defined. I would air on the side of no, it should not count. We’re talking about the greatest player ever, not the greatest persona.
Not everyone takes all of that into consideration though, which certainly works against Kareem. He was never the mega-popular, super exciting dunk contest champion Jordan was.
His skyhook was completely unblockable and he played great post defense, but Kareem didn’t enjoy the spotlight like Jordan did. As unfair as it is, this all hurts Kareem’s case in the public eye. He’s often an afterthought in these kinds of conversations.
That’s a mistake. Here’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s GOAT resume: leader in career wins added in the regular season, leader in points scored in NBA history, six-time NBA champion, six-time MVP, 19-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA First Teamer, five-time All-Defensive First Teamer, Rookie of the Year, two-time NBA leading scorer, four-time blocks leader, one-time rebounding champion.
To compare the two is tough considering they played different positions in different eras, but I’ll do my best. They both won six rings, Kareem has an extra MVP award, Jordan got more defensive accolades but Kareem has more All-Star nods.
They’ve both won Rookie of the Year, and while Jordan has far more scoring titles and three steals titles, Kareem has four blocks titles and one rebounding title. Kareem would likely have more blocks titles, except the statistic wasn’t tracked in his first four NBA seasons.
| Rk | Player | G | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* | 1560 | 57446 | 28307 | .559 | 18 | .056 | 9304 | .721 | 17440 | 5660 | 1160 | 3189 | 2527 | 4657 | 38387 |
| 2 | Michael Jordan* | 1072 | 41011 | 24537 | .497 | 1778 | .327 | 8772 | .835 | 6672 | 5633 | 2514 | 893 | 2924 | 2783 | 32292 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/16/2016.
The career statistics from both players are truly remarkable. Jordan more than doubled Kareem in total steals, despite playing over 16,000 less minutes. Every other basic statistic besides three-point shooting goes to Kareem.
He just barely has the assists edge, but Jordan isn’t close in terms of blocks, rebounds or points. Kareem also had less turnovers than Jordan, despite the massive minutes difference between the two.
Looking at these career statistics might not be fair though, considering the minutes difference. So far, these two have been pretty even. Jordan is the greater scorer and on-ball defender, but Kareem’s got the edge in rebounding, shot-blocking, and most total stats.
So let’s take a look at the best season from both of these legends. Picking Michael Jordan’s best-ever season could probably be its own article, but for the purposes of this article we’ll go with 1989 as his peak.
| Season | Age | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-89 ★ | 25 | 81 | 40.2 | 22.2 | .538 | 1.2 | .276 | 9.8 | .850 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 32.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/16/2016.
Jordan wasn’t a good three-point shooter yet, but he was still the best scorer in the NBA that season. Jordan never averaged seven or more assists OR rebounds per game for a season in any year aside from ’89, when he averaged eight of each.
It was his most balanced and, in my opinion, greatest season ever. Jordan also managed just under three steals per game, meaning he only had more steals per game in 1988.
Obviously this is one of the best single seasons in NBA history. Jordan was untouchable in ’89. Just as Kareem was in ’76.
| Season | Age | G | MP | FGA | FG% | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975-76 ★ | 28 | 82 | 41.2 | 21.1 | .529 | 7.8 | .703 | 3.3 | 13.5 | 16.9 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 27.7 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/16/2016.
Kareem really hit his peak during his Milwaukee tenure, especially in ’72 when he averaged 34.8 points and 16.6 rebounds per game.
According to wins added per 48 minutes Kareem’s 1971-72 season was the best ever in NBA history. That stat has three Kareem seasons as adding more wins to his team than Jordan ever did in a single season. Like any metric, it’s not perfect, but it is notable that it has Kareem as making more of an impact than Jordan.
Unfortunately the NBA wasn’t yet tracking blocks and steals at that point, so it’s not a good one to use for this comparison.
To get a more complete picture of how Abdul-Jabbar dominated the NBA, those stats are important too. 1976 was Kareem’s first year in Los Angeles, and the only year where the Lakers would fail to make the playoffs with Kareem around.
He still managed to have an insane season, leading the NBA in both rebounds and blocks per game. Although Jordan might have the slight edge in scoring, Kareem wasn’t exactly a slouch either.
Playing into his 40s lowered his career points per game a bit, so let’s take a look at just the primes of these two. Jordan played 13 years with the Bulls, so let’s look at those seasons against Kareem’s first 13 NBA seasons.
Michael Jordan averaged 31.5 points (while shooting 50.5 percent from the field), 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in Chicago.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 27.8 points (while shooting 55.8 percent from the field), 13.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game in his first 13 seasons.
At that point it’s just about a toss-up on which of these two was better. Jordan has slight leads in scoring and passing and a big steals advantage, but Kareem had more than double his rebounds per game and more than triple his blocks per game.
This is where the positions come into play–it makes sense that a shooting guard would have more assists and steals and a center would have more rebounds and blocks.
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That coupled with Kareem’s incredible longevity–he scored 1,100 points in 19 consecutive seasons, while Jordan only reached that number in 13 of his 15 years in the NBA–gives Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the slight edge necessary to be the greatest of all time in my opinion.