If there has been one topic in basketball that would be classified as “over-kill” it would have to be the discussion or debate about who is the G.O.A.T. (the greatest of all time). I totally understand, but I still wrote a book “The G.O.A.T.: The Quest to Find the Best” a couple years ago, picking my Top 75 players of all time. I think most sports fans still like and “enjoy” lists. Who are the best players, the best teams, the best championship teams, etc. The debate generally ends up being an argument about who is their favorite. I devoted an entire chapter (24 pages) in my book to my criterion for how and why I picked the players that I did. I researched and gathered data for 10 months before I wrote the book. I did my best to take subjectivity out of the process. I have followed the NBA since the mid-fifties and have seen every player who has ever played in the NBA play. I had the benefit of the “eye test”. As a former college coach of 12 years I have had the opportunity to coach and play against several NBA players. My background does not make me an authority but I do think it gives me some credibility. As I stated in my book, I do not believe it is possible to pick just ONE best player of all time due to so many variables such as, era, competition, rule changes, position of the players, etc. But I do believe with the right criteria choosing a Top 75 can be more than just giving an opinion. One of my ten criteria was era, and that is what I want to focus on in this post.

I believe there are eight distinct eras in the history of the NBA. I want to focus on these eight eras and break down the 79-year history of the NBA into more realistic comparisons and manageable variables. Each era has ONE player that rises above all the others. In my book I said I don’t believe a player could be considered THE GOAT if they were not a dominate player in their era. The criterion I based my ranking of players on were dominance, longevity, physicality, winning, statistics, awards/honors, offense vs. defense, playing both ends of he court, the yardstick test, and clutch performances. Here is my breakdown of each era and the best player in each era.

The first era is the pre-shot clock era (1946-1954), and the 2 years after, since it was the same league with the same players. The average NBA scores were in the 80s and there were very few players over 6’5″. The most dominate team was the Minneapolis Lakers who won 5 championships (1 in BAA) in 7 years. The most dominate player was George Mikan, who won the title in 5 of the 7 years he played. He averaged 23.1 points and 13.4 rebounds for his career. He was responsible for several rule changes, including offensive goal tending, widening the lane, and the shot clock. George Mikan is the GOAT for this era.

The second era is the Boston Celtic dynasty era (1956-1969). The Celtics with Bill Russell and six Hall of Fame players won 11 NBA Championships. Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Sharman, Frank Ramsey, Bailey Howell, Sam Jones, and KC Jones were perennial all stars on those dominating Celtic teams. The greatest player of this era was Wilt Chamberlain. His statistics and domination in the league are still discussed today, over 50 years since he played. He holds records that may never be broken, including averaging 50 points and 25 rebounds a game for an ENTIRE season, 30 points and 20 rebounds a game for 7 seasons, and 100 points in a game. One of the most “heated” debates in basketball is the comparison between Russell and Wilt as to who was the best. I saw them both play many times, head-to-head, and there is NO comparison between them as far as I am concerned. (I wrote about the Chamberlain/Russell comparison in an earlier post.) Chamberlain is the GOAT for this era.

The third era (1970-1979) included the ABA/NBA merger. The overall competition and skill level of the ABA was not even close to the NBA. But the top players in the ABA like Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Dan Issel, George Gervin, David Thompson, and Artis Gilmore were as good as anyone in the NBA. (I have more ABA players in my Top 75 than anyone else.) There were no dominate teams in this era, the New York Knicks and the Celtics won a couple NBA titles and Chamberlain retired. As one giant left, another almost as dominating, took his place. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came into the NBA in 1969-70. In his rookie season Jabbar averaged 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. Julius ‘Dr J’ Erving made his mark in the ABA and later the NBA. Dr J was 3xABA MVP and was voted the best player to ever play in the ABA. He was 7xAll-NBA and 1xNBA MVP. Jabbar was 15xAll-NBA, 6xNBA MVP. He finished his 20 year career with a 24.6 points per game average and 11.2 rebounds average. Kareem is the GOAT for this era.

The fourth era (1979-1990) was the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson and the Boston Celtics/LA Lakers era. The Celtics and the Lakers won 8 of the 11 championships during this era. (The Detroit Pistons won two.) Bird and Magic used the 1979 NCAA Final Four college basketball championship to spring board their careers AND the NBA into a whole new level of popularity. This “rivalry” resuscitated the league, and led to TV exposure, higher NBA salaries, and the “warfare” among shoe companies. Both Magic and Bird won three NBA MVP’s. Larry “Legend” and Magic are the GOAT(S).

The fifth era was the Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls era (1990-1998). If Bird and Magic breathed new life into the NBA, Jordan elevated the league into the stratosphere. The Bulls won 6 championships and MJ won 5 NBA MVPs. “Air Jordan” IS the most famous and most popular player to ever play in the NBA. He averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists a game for his career. (Only MJ and Chamberlain averaged over 30 points a game for a CAREER.) Jordan is the GOAT for this era.

The sixth era covers the LA Lakers/San Antonio Spurs dominance from 1999-2007. The Lakers were led by arguably the greatest duo to ever play together in the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won the title 3 times with Shaq and 2 more with Kobe. Tim Duncan led the Spurs to 5 NBA Championships. Kobe was a 15xAll-NBA selection and was named league MVP once. Shaq, #6 all-time in my book, was 14xAll-NBA and 1xNBA MVP. He averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds in his 19-year career. Shaq is the GOAT for this era.

The seventh era is the “King James” era (2005-2016). There is a little overlap with the 6th era but the era is ushered in with the most hyped player to ever come into the league, LeBron James. Like him or hate him LeBron James came into the NBA as the “Chosen One” and has lived up to all expectations. Twenty-one years after his rookie season he is STILL putting up numbers that are mind-boggling. He has made 19 All-NBA Teams and 4 NBA MVPs. He has scored over 40,000 points, gotten 11,000 assists, and 11,165 rebounds in his career. He is averaging over 25 points a game at the age of 40. Kevin Durant had a great impact in this era. The Spurs won 3 NBA Championships during this era. LeBron is the GOAT in this era.

My eighth and final era is focused on the 3-point explosion which began in 2016. The 3-point shot was introduced in 1979, but it took the NBA 25 years to fully recognize the impact it could have on the game. This current era (2016-present) has been dominated by the 3-point shot from the high school level to the NBA. It has had the greatest impact on the game since the shot clock. (Some would say an adverse affect on the game.) Led by Steph Curry, NBA teams shoot 4 or 5 times more 3s today than even 10 years ago. Offenses have been totally changed and the impact of the guards and “perimeter” players now have more influence on the outcome of a basketball game than the “inside” players. The Golden State Warriors have been the most dominating team in the NBA winning titles in 2017, 2018, and 2022. ( Their best team in 2015-16 with a record of 73-9, lost in the finals to Cleveland.) Steph Curry at 6’2″ has had more of an impact on the outcome of games and the popularity of the game than any other player over these last 8 years. Curry has been named to 9 All-NBA Teams and been named NBA MVP twice. He has a career 24.8 points a game and 6.4 assists average.(The popularity for the shots from “downtown” have made the women’s game more popular than ever due to super star, Caitlin Clark.) Curry is the GOAT for this era.