Los Angeles Lakers: Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the real basketball GOAT
By Jason Reed
3. Kareem-Abdul Jabbar dominated for three years at UCLA
When discussing who the greatest of all-time is, the production at the NBA level should be the main focus of the debate. However, it is hard to ignore what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who was named Lew Alcindor at the time) did when playing for UCLA.
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Abdul-Jabbar played on the Bruins for three seasons, putting together a masterpiece of a resume. In those three years, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 26.4 points and grabbed 15.5 rebounds per game. Abdul-Jabbar won the National Championship every season at UCLA, was a three-time All-Tourney, All-Region, All-American, College Player of the Year and a one-time Naismith winner.
Abdul-Jabbar is undoubtedly the best college basketball player of all-time. And while that means nothing when it comes to the NBA, it should be considered when we are discussing the greatest of all-time.
Jordan was not nearly as dominant in his three seasons at UNC and LeBron James skipped college altogether. I’m sure James would have been as dominant, but he also got a head start on his legacy.
Abdul-Jabbar was 22 when he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks. Jordan was 21 when he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls. James was 18 when he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Imagine if Abdul-Jabbar skipped college and went straight to the NBA. He likely still would have been great and likely would have surpassed 20 all-star selections and even could’ve won more championships.
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It is hard to leave the greatest college basketball player of all-time out of the GOAT discussion, especially when he also went down as one of the best NBA players of all-time. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not one of the best all-time, he is the best all-time.