The most common NBA GOAT conversation tends to revolve around Michael Jordan and LeBron James. However, Pat Riley believes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest player of all time. Riley recently defended his take, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
“I always said that Kareem was the greatest player of all time because of his longevity,” Riley said. “Kareem was unique from the standpoint that he could play at a high level, play 80 games a year … get beat up because of double- and triple-teams and guys just taking shots at him. He just developed this mental toughness along with a great physical body to really last forever.”
LeBron is quickly approaching the NBA scoring record, which is held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Barring any setbacks in LeBron's career, he likely will reach Kareem's mark. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of people who believe Jordan is the GOAT.
But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar doesn't receive enough attention for all he accomplished during his time in the league. He was an unstoppable player capable of single-handedly leading his teams to victory.
Riley later added that Jordan deserves to be in the conversation, but doubled down on his Abdul-Jabbar stance.
“I put Michael [Jordan] in there too,” Riley said. “But Kareem was the greatest at that time because of his longevity and the fact that he continued to perform at a high level when he was in his late 30s and 40s.”
As for the scoring record, LeBron said he hasn't thought much about it as he looks to lead the Los Angeles Lakers.
“The scoring record was never ever even thought of in my head because I’ve always been a pass-first guy. I’ve always loved seeing the success of my teammates,” he said.
The NBA GOAT conversation will get even more interesting if James is able to surpass Kareem's record.
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