Baski wrote:bledredwine wrote:Jordan, KAJ, Russell are the only three. Anyone else looks ridiculous to me, unless someone claims Wilt is since he’s a question mark.
The next tier - Wilt, Lebron, Bird, Magic, maybe Hakeem.
This poll is going to change significantly for Lebron (downwards) in the next five years and KAJ won’t just be equal but quite a bit ahead, as he should be, much like Kobe’s realgm fan base changed when he became obsolete to current events.
I'm suprised you have Lebron so high. But curious what would make him drop in the next five years.
Many get the wrong impression of me. Jordan comparisons to me are silly, which is why many will see me as biased. But frankly, I just see.... I see the way Chris Paul plays and it doesn't make sense that he'd be ranked among the greatest point guards, so I rag on Chris Paul with no agenda or "biased" reason. I see Lebron play and see one of the best to ever do it, but someone with too many vulnerabilities and lack of stepping it up in important moments to be in GOAT contention. When Jordan played, there was no other player on the court who was close, period. Realgm tries to make it a habit of re-inventing that and bringing others to his level, but he was on another level, period, and many superstars would say as much. You can't say the same about anyone over the last 10 years.
So who was on that same tier of greatness? We can definitely say that Russell was. We can say that Kareem completely dominated as well. We can say that statistically, Wilt did... and he's the biggest question mark of all.
Lebron is without a doubt (to me) a top 5 player. I'd draft him over Magic and Bird, though I should mention it's due to his longevity. I was a big Lebron fan back when I lived in Cleveland.
What I can't do is conform to the hype that comes along with certain fanbases dominating forums, this forum's Lebron fanaticism (alongside Dirk, Duncan, and KG) being a great example. Lebron's popularity will go down in the next 5 years as his relevance diminishes, and it will go down significantly on realgm because fans of other dominating players will be joining realgm. Don't be surprised in even one or two years if someone's fanbase (say Giannis) is drawing Lebron comparisons that frankly, are full of crap. This is the way it works for any great player. If someone DOES have a compatible dominance to Jordan, I'll be the first to admit it. When Steph had his ridiculous regular season, I was starting to tell my friends that with excellent defense, it'd be Jordan'esque.
Anyway, if realgm had been around during Jordan, the number of fans would have been obnoxious as well. If you're unsure what I'm talking about, I encourage you to search old posts comparing Jordan and Kobe and look at the percentage of fans who voted for Kobe against Jordan- It's staggering. Still, Lebron's without a doubt the best of his generation. I'm not taking that away.
That said, time diminishes legacy over and over again. Just like the Titanic, we won't be talking as much about Lebron in 5-10 years as we are now. Even last year, people were quick to call Kawhi better than Lebron (funny) because he had an excellent playoffs. So yes, his place in the all-time rankings will drop compared to what you're seeing on this forum. It won't be significant, but just like Kobe, I'll be looking back and saying "I told you so" to fans. Jordan left a legacy that is still intact, which is remarkable, because Jordan is no exception to this axiom either. His legacy is certainly less vivid than it was as he was playing and retired.