NBA: What determines your GOAT all time list...

[barbacoataco]

It is impossible to make such a list for several reasons.
1. Different eras reward different skill sets, and no one really knows how various players would do in a different era.
2. Secondly, basketball is a team sport and you're trying to compare players from different positions. I mean how can you really compare Shaq against Magic when they played such different roles, but they were both dominant in their own way.
3. Anytime you are comparing players you have take into account "career performance" versus "peak performance." For example, even as a Spurs homer I world say that Shaq was, for a few years, slightly more dominant than Duncan ever was. On the other hand Duncan was able to sustain a much higher level for a longer period and more consistent than Shaq, and was more of a team player. How do you put that together and say one was "better" than the other? And you could point out many examples of players who had a better 2-5 year run as opposed to players with longer more productive careers.
4. Lastly and most important, as an observer you will always give more weight to a player you personally saw play more. Since I've been watching the NBA since about 1982-1983, I naturally (like every sane person) think MJ was the GOAT. But that was the guy I grew up seeing play on WGN and he was basketball to me. An older or younger dude might favor someone else.
Anyway, off the top of my head
1. Michael Jordan
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabar
3 Magic Johnson
4, Moses Malone
5. Larry Bird
6. Hakeem Olajuwon
7. Oscar Robertson
8. Bill Russell
9. Wilt Chamberlain
10. Tie Shaq/Duncan

My criteria would be in general- Players who win the regular season MVP and go on to win the championship in the same year, are usually the best players.

[DMC]

1. Must not be a got rapist chucker
2. Must not have a horde of got ass fat be@ner fans who burn cars upon winning or losing a game
3. Must understand the concept of team basketball
4. Must not be a glorified TMac with better help
5. Must be coachable
6. Must not have a lazy eye
7. Cannot be married to a be@ner