OK no argument.
Not necessarily, this is a wild assumption that might be correct and might not be correct
Popularity contest for the MVP -- Jordan was easily the best at least 10 times and only won 5. Stating that Kareem was more widely heralded as the most valuable player of the generation, I have never heard. Wilt was a legend. Kareem was a long lasting very good player. I watched Kareem throughout all of his LA career, and I never once thought he was the greatest player to ever play the game. PS: if you don't think MVP is a popularity contest Steve Nash 2 -time MVP who led the league in basically nothing, and never took his team to the finals with numerous All-Stars.
Agreed -- but can't the same be said of Kareem? I mean all the 80's titles came with Magic and Worthy. The one in the 70's he had Oscar Robertson. Kareem was arguably not the best player on his team, much less the best center ever.
I hate these comparisons because they are purely a popularity contest. Yao gets the most votes for All-Star nearly every year, but that doesn't make him the best Center in the league.
I got it from watching the games. Kareem was not a "great" defender at all in my opinion --- he just had the name. Wilt said that Russell was the best defensive center he ever played against. Russell has 11 championships in 13 years and played against Chamberlain (the best scoring center of his time) extensively.
As Oscar Robertson put it in the Philadelphia Daily News when asked whether Chamberlain was the best ever, "The books don't lie."
The Big O played with Kareem in Mil from 70-74 and was arguably the best player on that team that won the championship.
I can argue, (you might not agree with it), that Kareem was never the best player on his own team when he won any of those championships. So if you want to argue team performance, then Russell wins. If you want to argue individual performance then Chamberlain wins. If you want both, then I could see Kareem in there -- although I have no idea how you said it isn't arguable and we have been arguing it for a while now.
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Thanks Nowhere, it has been fun in this argument. I've got to go for now though.