NBA: [GOAT Discussion] How did Kareem manage only 1 single le in the 70s?

[Thread]

You just compared a guy from Central Arkansas traded away on Draft Day to the Golden Boy Magic.

If Jordan had Magic Johnson, he would have won 10 x les

- "I didn't want to join MJ, I wanted to beat him." - Magic, lamenting the sequestering of NBA superstars.

[ambchang]

Kareem had some terrible teams. Look at the bucks before and after Kareem.

No single nba superstar ever won an NBA le by himself, and Hakeem and Duncan remained the only two superstar who ever won an NBA championship with no other superstar or even Allstar on the team during the championship year, but both had an incredible system and complimentary players around them. There are more teams that won a championship with no superstar (bullets, sonics, pistons and spurs) than the other way around.

All in all, teams win championship, superstars just make it easier.

[Cry Havoc]

Kareem and Jordan are, IMO, well ahead of anyone else who's ever played the game. Maybe not in overall ability, but in their production level/relevancy over the number of years they played. Even before Jordan won les, he was the best player in the game and absolutely destroying defenses. KAJ was much the same, just a dominant presence who played the game for 18-20 years at an exceptionally high level.

He would still be incredibly effective in this day and age. Complete player. Bit of a loner, but a street sweeper on both ends of the court.