Last night in New Orleans, Kobe Bryant became on the fifth player in the history of the NBA to reach 30,000 career points. He joined the all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, and Wilt Chamberlain in this exclusive club. Since Bryant became only the fifth member of the 30,000 point club, it has already brought about a lot of discussions about who in fact are the greatest players in the history of the NBA. Although the discussion today was centered around basketball, it seems like this discussion comes up as different significant records fall in all major professional American sports.
Each sport has its unique parameters for measuring "greatness," and I think the fact that because each sport can be measured in such different ways, it makes this discussion even more intriguing. Basketball is a sport that isn't, at least in my mind, primarily based upon career totals. I knew that Abdul-Jabbar was the all-time leader in points, but I wouldn't know what his career total was until I looked it up. I knew 30,000 career points was a lot, but I wouldn't know how many people had accumulated at least 30,000 points in their career until I looked it up.
Basketball is measured more in terms of per-game averages as opposed to career totals. Wilt Chamberlain once went an entire season averaging over 50 points per game and over 25 rebounds per game. In present terms, those numbers are astonishing. Oscar Robertson once averaged a triple-double over the course of an entire season. Again, astonishing. However, does that mean Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson are the two greatest players in the history of basketball? Since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has scored the most points in the history of the game, does that mean he is the best player of all-time? Bill Russell holds the record for most championships won by an individual player, with eleven (in only thirteen years!). Does that make him the greatest player of all-time? In all of the above cases, most people would answer no to all of those questions.
If you were to ask any selection of NBA fans of all ages who the greatest player of all-time was, I would be that at least seven out of every ten would answer Michael Jordan. But why is that? A good start is, like I said, looking at Jordan's per game averages. He, along with Wilt Chamberlain, are the only two players in the history of the NBA to average at least 30 points per game (both averaged 30.1). So, in the case for Jordan being the best player of all-time, we're off to a good start.
Next, we have to take the position of each player into account. Jordan was a shooting guard and Chamberlain was a center. So would it be tougher or easier for Jordan to score points than it would be for Chamberlain? Most would probably say it was tougher, and I would agree. Chamberlain usually was matched up against players nowhere near his size, while Jordan saw the opposing team's best perimeter defender every time he touched the ball. However, to be the best of all-time, you can't just do one thing well, you need to do everything well.
For a big man like Chamberlain, that means he would need to rebound well. So for supporters of Chamberlain, you could point to the fact that he also averaged the most rebounds per game in the history of the NBA (22.9), and so far you can make a case for him being the greatest to ever play the game. Jordan averaged 6.1 rebounds per game. This is more than respectable for a shooting guard, but obviously nowhere close to Chamberlain.
Supporters of Jordan would point to his defense, as Jordan averaged 2.35 steals per game, good for fifth all-time. Chamberlain played before steals (or blocks) were kept track of, so we will never know exactly how Chamberlain fared against Jordan in those particular defensive categories. So at this point, maybe Jordan was better than Chamberlain. Or maybe Chamberlain was better than Jordan.
But then, wait just a minute. For the sake of this argument, let's bring Jerry West into this discussion. Chamberlain and Jordan are tied atop the points per game leaderboard, but Jerry West is fifth on that list, at 27 points per game. So, he isn't on Wilt or Michael's level there. However, if Jordan gets the nod over Chamberlain because of his steals per game average, then what happens when we see that Jerry West averaged more steals per game than Jordan. Does that mean he was better defensively than Jordan? Is this cause for him to be considered better overall than Jordan? What does that mean when comparing him to Chamberlain?
In comparing Jordan to both West and Chamberlain then, Jordan's fans would point out the fact that Jordan was a member of six championship winning teams. Chamberlain won only two titles, and West won only one (as a player). So does Jordan trump them both then? What about Russell, who won almost twice as many titles as Jordan, and had career averages that were not too far behind Chamberlain's? If winning is what really matters, then why is Russell not the clear-cut number one player in the history of the NBA?
Magic Johnson won five titles and revolutionized the game with his ability to play all five positions on the floor. Do his career averages across the board and his versatility make him better than Jordan, Russell, Chamberlain, and West? He may not have posted dominant numbers in any one statistical category like any of those players, but does his ability to change the game in so many ways, plus his five rings, make him better than them all? What about LeBron James? He is quickly approaching Hall of Fame worthy, and he is not even 30 years old yet. LeBron haters will immediately point to him only having won one title, but he is 28 years old. How old was Michael Jordan when he won his first title? 28 years old. James' numbers and style of play are very comparable to Magic's. He has the ability to play every position on the floor, and he can post above-average statistical numbers across the board.
What this all boils down to is the fact that choosing the best player in any given sport is often times an exercise in futility. I wanted to make this about the struggle to choose the best player in all of our major sports, but it ended up just being about basketball because I had too much to say. Just so you all know, it is my belief that the best players in our four major professional sports are Wayne Gretzky (the only clear-cut best in my opinion), Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan, and Willie Mays. I could lay out arguments for all of them and why I believe that they are the best at what they did, but it would take forever.
To finish up, I want to bring this all full-circle and put the focus back on Kobe Bryant. We already knew that Bryant has been only getting closer and closer to the top of the list of all-time greatest players to ever play professional basketball. This 30,000 point achievement only makes a stronger case for him to be considered in that category. It also gives us yet another chance to debate about a classic question that will probably never be answered.
There have been plenty of great games throughout sports history. There have been plenty of great seasons. However, only a select few can be mentioned as having the greatest careers. What defines a great career differs in the minds of just about every sports fan, but there are some facts that are undeniable. Kobe Bryant entered an exclusive club last night, and there is no way to deny now that he has to be mentioned as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. Where exactly he may fit on your list is up for debate, but what he did last night is now proof that he needs to at least be in any discussion we have about the greatest of all time.
Daily Giants Update: It would have been great to have won last Monday night, but I was expecting a tough game, and that is what we got. A one game lead in the division with four games to play is not exactly cause for celebration, but it is still a lead. We get the Saints at home on Sunday afternoon, and we need to carve up that defense and put a lot of points on the board to win. Four games to go before the playoffs start...
Daily Nets Update: A loss in the last game to the Thunder is nothing to be ashamed of, and neither is an 11-6 record. Next up is Golden State tomorrow night in what should be a win...
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The annual winter meetings of general managers has been underway for the past week, and I fear that we are getting dangerously close to a Justin Upton trade once again. This time the team trying to get him is the Texas Rangers. I hope to God that he doesn't get dealt, and if he does, be sure you will hear a long rant about it right here soon after it happens. Keep Upton Please!!!!
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