For several years, the GOAT debate has been one of the hottest topics of discussion among NBA fans and the media. While Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the GOAT of basketball for what he achieved during his career with the Chicago Bulls, LeBron James is considered a close second by most fans.
Over the years, fans have provided several reasons to support to the case of each player and with James turning 38 years old this year, he now has little time to surpass MJ.
But today, let’s look at the GOAT debate from a different perspective. Instead of crowning either MJ or LBJ with the title, who are the GOATs as per the five positions?
Well, an NBA fan on Reddit had the same idea in one of their recent posts. According to the fan, the five GOATs are Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, and Bill Russell.
Can This GOAT Team Be Defeated?
The five players picked by the NBA fan are certainly some of the best players to ever showcase their talents in the league. But the fan also urged other fans to create a starting five which they think could defeat his starting five in a best-of-seven series. Keeping that in mind, here are some of the best answers given by the fans below the original post.
WeLLrightyOH: Kareem always gets somewhat forgotten. He gets lumped in with the older greats like wilt and Russell, but he played well into the 80s. Then people remember Shaq/Hakeem etc looking great in more “modern” times. Feels like Kareem is just kind of stuck in the middle.
Sudden-Team2415: Steph, Kobe, KD, Giannis, Shaq.
Adramelk: Pippen, Kobe, Kawhi, KD, Hakeem
This was a hard question, in particular because of Magic and Bron. They are big dudes who are elite playmakers. So I thought of guys who can neutralize (for a lack of a better term) their playmaking, while still having a team that can score on them on the other end.
I really thought of a way to insert Steph (for his shooting and off-ball movement) or Giannis (for more size and paint presence), but I wish Steph was a little bigger or Giannis was a tad bit better as a primary playmaker.
kpeds45: No. Can’t beat that team. Also Kareem is the GOAT at center.
legolasMightBeADog: Assuming everyone is in his prime:
Joe Dumars (to slow down MJ), Kobe, Bird ,Giannis, Kareem.
OThePlacesYouWillGo: How does Russell leapfrog Wilt and Kareem into your GOAT line up?
FeebackContent8322: Giannis,khawai,Kg,Kareem,Shaq
The defense could slow down your lineup while having Kareem and Shaq to feed in the post while having Giannis run the break and khawai provide a little spacing.
TurnNorth8004: Curry, Mamba, Larry Legend, Dirk (KG or Giannis) and Shaq (Kareem or Hakeem).
cactusmasters69420: Give me Kobe, Kawhi and Shaq
Then two of Curry, KD, KG, or Giannis.
As we mentioned earlier, most fans believe that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should have been placed in the original GOAT team over Bill Russell.
We mean no disrespect to the late Boston Celtics legend, but Kareem simply has a better resume than Russell apart from his ring count. Additionally, most believe that adding Kawhi and Shaq to a single team could slow the five legends and ultimately result in a victory.
