Pat Riley says Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is greatest player in NBA history Hell always be the guy

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is closing in on the NBA's all-time scoring record, currently held by Kareem-Abdul Jabbar. At his , James would be set to surpa s Abdul-Jabbar's mark of 38,387 career points on Feb. 7 Adolis Garcia Jersey at home vs. the .For most, this record doesn't make a difference in the GOAT debate. If you think James is the greatest to ever play, you have likely already come to that conclusion. If you don't, a few more points aren't going to change your mind.To that point, Pat Riley, who signed James to the and coached Abdul-Jabbar with the , winning multiple titles Trevor Rosenthal Jersey with both, revealed in a recent interview with ESPN's Ramona Shelburne that Abdul-Jabbar will always be the NBA's greatest player in his mind. :"I always said that Kareem was the greatest player of all time because of his longevity," Riley recalled. "Kareem was unique from the standpoint that he could play at a high level, play 80 games a year ... get beat up because of double- and triple-teams and guys just taking shots at him. He just developed this mental toughne s along with a great physical body to really last forever."... We don't win championships without the greatest player in the history of the game, who had the greatest weapon in the history of the game," Riley added. "The skyhook was unstoppable. Last minute of the game, it's going to one guy. Kareem was the guy, and he'll always be the guy."A couple things here. First, Riley said he would put Michael Jordan in the GOAT conversation as well, but the longevity factor (Jordan played 15 seasons) swings Carlos Martinez Jersey the debate to Kareem, who played for 20 seasons, and LeBron, who is in his 20th season and still has plenty in the tank. So that's where this gets a little contradictory. If Riley is saying longevity is what made Kareem the GOAT, LeBron is going to play longer. He's going to score more points. He's obviously the better pa ser and an indisputably more versatile defender.What's interesting is that when James was with the Heat, it was well known -- as chronicled in Lee Jenkins' story Giovanny Gallegos Jersey for Sports Illustrated -- that Riley would refer to James, even addre s him as the BOAT, which is to say: "Best of All Time."Riley, of course, is splitting hairs like everyone else because, in fact, it's impo sible to say who the greatest player ever actually is. There are too many layers to the debate, too many variables to Dexter Fowler Jersey credibly consider to pinpoint one guy, to say nothing of the fact that Riley is so closely connected to both James and Kareem. So he, like most of us, is dealing in semantics. Kareem is the GOAT. LeBron is the BOAT. Jordan is "in there, too," as Riley told Shelburne. Go ahead and add Wilt to the list. And Kobe. Lou Brock Jersey . Ru sell. All these guys are pretty great, as it turns out. Depending on what day it is, you might very well find yourself lobbying for any one of 10 guys as the GOAT. And that's fine. I used to say LeBron was the greatest and I believed it. I've come to grips with the madne s of that kind of subjective certainty. I don't know who the greatest ever is. Frankly, it doesn't sound like Riley does, either.
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