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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar just wrote “How Soon They Forget: An Open Letter to Scottie Pippen“. I HIGHLY recommend that you check it out. An additional “Must Read/Have” is Kareem’s “On The Shoulders of Giants…“.

As a fellow Old Fart, I totally get Kareem’s perspective. In today’s “Who did whatever TODAY is the greatest ever” electronic media-hyped environment, fans & media either forget (conveniently or for real) or are too lazy to research the great players who played before…ohhh…this DECADE! And no, I’m not one of those old farts who claims that everyone & everything back in the day was better than everyone & everything now. Like Kareem, I’m just saying if you’re not going to consider EVERYONE who ever played, then don’t proclaim ANYONE as “The Best Ever”…because “ever” didn’t just start LAST DECADE, LAST YEAR…or in APRIL!

For example…Some folks are now comparing Dirk Nowitzky to Larry Bird…mainly because Dirk has had this ONE stellar playoffs. ARE YOU SHITTIN ME? Dirk is a GREAT player & sure-fire 1st-ballot HOFer. Dirk can score like a “mo fo”, BUT…Dirk couldn’t WASH Bird’s jock! Bird could out-score, surely out-pass, and scratch his ass with his good hand while out-defending Dirk on Bird’s OFF-DAY. Bird had MANY stellar playoffs and also has three of those ring “things”.

Although I proclaim MJ as “Da G.O.A.T.” of basketball, I don’t argue with anyone (ie. Kareem) who says it’s “Wilt The Stilt”. I saw Chamberlain, Russell, Kareem, Dr J, Cousy, West, MJ et al play. If you’ve never even seen tape (and there ain’t much tape around) of or have done research on Wilt, then you cannot even FATHOM the dood’s accomplishments or his mad skills. He was arguably the strongest HUMAN in sports in his day. Dood was certainly the most DOMINANT basketball player to ever play. Think about it…we get all orgasmic about LeBron or Kobe or Dirk or whoever droppin “fitty” once , twice…a few times/year. Wilt AVERAGED a “FITTY-BURGER” one year! Kareem said…”Simply put the number of players that could have stopped Wilt Chamberlain in his prime has not increased.”…True, that number is still ZERO! Bill Russell could slow him down, but not stop him. No one around since that Wilt, in his prime, wouldn’t eat for a light snack or use for a toothpick.

Speaking of Bill Russell…If you think that Dwight Howard…the best CURRENT big man & best defensive player in the NBA…is the greatest defensive player ever, then you never saw or researched Bill Russell. Then again, as Kareem points out, researching still might not do it because the NBA didn’t even keep stats on blocked shots when Russell played. Russell was PISSED at HIMSELF when he blocked a shot but didn’t keep it in play…as infrequently as that occurred. He was just that skilled at shot blocking. Oh yeah…Dood has ELEVEN rings. Last time I checked, Dwight Howard has same number of rings as Dirk…ZERO!

As for Scottie Pippen’s DUMB-ASS (then back-tracked) declaration of LeBron’s greatness over MJ…PUH-LEEEEZE. LeBron is a physical FREAK…and I mean that with respect. If I were a mad scientist and could build the perfect body & physical abilities for a basketball player…I’d just clone LeBron and take the rest of the week off. But there’s much more to being “Da G.O.A.T.” than physical composition & skills. LeBron is a GREAT player and a future 1st-ballot HOFer. But RIGHT NOW, he isn’t even in the CONVERSATION of informed NBA fans of even being in the Top TEN of all-time greats. He simply hasn’t accomplished enough yet. Win 5 or 6 rings…heck…win ONE ring first, garner a pile more scoring, MVP & defensive awards and THEN let’s talk…I said, TALK…not necessarily agree on anything. Meanwhile, I’ll have a TRUCK-LOAD of Snickers bars while I wait…because I surely won’t be going anywhere for awhile on that one.

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By Reg DeVone – Jabberhead, SJ Janitor/Co-owner/Admin/Contributing Author

http://forums.sportsjabber.net/sjforums/showthread.php?t=89182