Usually we have one GOAT candidate per generation... so who do you think is next?

[Joao Saraiva]

I have two GOAT candidates from the 60s in Bill Russell and Wilt, depending on the criteria you use one can get there or the other.

But after that I think it is more or less consensus that each generation brought one GOAT contender:
Kareem
Michael Jordan
LeBron James

We're getting away from the LeBron era and we're getting stunning performances left and right. So... who do you think will be the next entering GOAT conversations? (Or more likely to?) Also can this generation bring us two GOAT candidates at a time?

So far Giannis and Luka have absolutely tremendous careers for their age. Anyone else? Ja Morant? Jokic? Embiid? Tatum?

Thought this could be a fun thread to look 10 years from now! It's just guessing so no one can be sure but... take a guess and have fun!

[jalengreen]

I don't think anyone playing in the NBA right now will be a true GOAT candidate (I.e. the Kareem/Jordan/LeBron tier) just like that was the case post-Jordan & pre-LeBron (IMO, some may rate Duncan/Shaq higher).

The closest player I would pick would certainly be Giannis.

I don't see anyone else getting all that close considering the defensive impact that would be needed from a guy like Luka. Jokic's ATG offensive peak is incredible but I'm not sure he'll ever have the roster construction win a title with MPJ's injury / contract + the supermax he's about to get.

Maybe Wembanyana will live up to the hype and be that guy lol

[mattg]

The contenders for the post Lebron era are Giannis followed by Jokic and Luka. Don't think anyone else is really a contender.

[Cavsfansince84]

Giannis could be if he continues to improve, has a prime that goes out to 33-34 and keeps winning rings. I did that thread like a year ago saying what the minimum number of rings it takes to get into the goat convo and I feel like 3 is a minimum number. Which also includes having some epic playoff runs. Giannis could still do it and still get another mvp or two.

[Texas Chuck]

OP is definitely missing Tim Duncan from his GOAT candidates. I don't see a consistent position that includes both Russell and Kareem and excludes Timmy.

But yeah Giannis is the clear choice from this generation if anyone is to rise to that level.

[Jaivl]

Evan Mobley

[Statlanta]

Giannis doesn't have the career start Doncic has. Doncic doesn't have the team or hardware Giannis has.

It is probably going to be someone in the 2024-2026 draft class.

[Ursusamericanus]

I think Giannis ends up on par with Hakeem, i.e. towards the lower end of the top 10 or just outside. In many ways I see him as this generation's Hakeem.

Luka probably is the best candidate, given his torrid start statistically... if he can win a couple MVPs and a ring by his mid-late 20s I think he's right on track.

[SK21209]

I don't think Giannis is going to get there. He's the best in the world right now, but he's 27 and I'm not sure if he'll be able to alter his game to stay on top into his 30s like LeBron, Jordan and Kareem did. Giannis is special because of his overwhelming physicality, I see him as the evolutionary version of Shaq.

Luka is the only current player with a chance to enter that conversation IMO. He's 2022 and has already proven to be completely unguardable in the playoffs. If he can become a 38ish% three point shooter, he could end up going down as the greatest offensive player of all time. In a way, he'd be the antitheses of Bill Russell as a GOAT candidate.

[Stalwart]

I don't think thats true. MJ is the only true candidate for GOAT. But if were talking top 10ish players then Giannis is definitely there with Curry still possibly sneaking in if GSW wins another couple of titles.

[falcolombardi]

I don't think Giannis is going to get there. He's the best in the world right now, but he's 27 and I'm not sure if he'll be able to alter his game to stay on top into his 30s like LeBron, Jordan and Kareem did. Giannis is special because of his overwhelming physicality, I see him as the evolutionary version of Shaq.

Luka is the only current player with a chance to enter that conversation IMO. He's 2022 and has already proven to be completely unguardable in the playoffs. If he can become a 38ish% three point shooter, he could end up going down as the greatest offensive player of all time. In a way, he'd be the antitheses of Bill Russell as a GOAT candidate.

without leaving doncic archetype as a helio point forward

is luka with a solid 3 better than 2012-2018 lebron offensively?

[SK21209]

I don't think Giannis is going to get there. He's the best in the world right now, but he's 27 and I'm not sure if he'll be able to alter his game to stay on top into his 30s like LeBron, Jordan and Kareem did. Giannis is special because of his overwhelming physicality, I see him as the evolutionary version of Shaq.

Luka is the only current player with a chance to enter that conversation IMO. He's 2022 and has already proven to be completely unguardable in the playoffs. If he can become a 38ish% three point shooter, he could end up going down as the greatest offensive player of all time. In a way, he'd be the antitheses of Bill Russell as a GOAT candidate.

without leaving doncic archetype as a helio point forward

is luka with a solid 3 better than 2012-2018 lebron offensively?

Well I don't LeBron was the same player from 2012-2018. While he was in Miami, LeBron was incredibly efficient and still athletically dominant, but he wasn't as cerebral as he became during the second Cleveland stint. Those Heat teams were awesome in transition, but their half-court offense was never quite as good as I thought it could be. With a more dependable three point shot, and maybe a more developed off-ball game, yeah I think Luka would be a better offensive player than Miami LeBron.

2015-2018 LeBron, though, I've never seen a player control every second of a game while he was on the floor like that. That Game 1 against the Warriors in 2018 is the best performance from a basketball player I've ever seen. Scoring at will, manipulating the defense to generate looks for a not very talented supporting cast and completely dictating pace against one of the best teams ever. Luka with the improvements I mentioned might not be better than that version of LeBron, but he could basically be that player for a longer period of time.

[RCM88x]

As time goes on the requirements get higher and higher, so naturally you'll see theses guys less and less often. I don't think there's one in the league currently. Feel like it'll be a couple years till they come about.

[SNPA]

I have two GOAT candidates from the 60s in Bill Russell and Wilt, depending on the criteria you use one can get there or the other.

But after that I think it is more or less consensus that each generation brought one GOAT contender:
Kareem
Michael Jordan
LeBron James

We're getting away from the LeBron era and we're getting stunning performances left and right. So... who do you think will be the next entering GOAT conversations? (Or more likely to?) Also can this generation bring us two GOAT candidates at a time?

So far Giannis and Luka have absolutely tremendous careers for their age. Anyone else? Ja Morant? Jokic? Embiid? Tatum?

Thought this could be a fun thread to look 10 years from now! It's just guessing so no one can be sure but... take a guess and have fun!

Russell and Bird are oddly missing from your list. Both considered GOAT by many in their time.

[Dutchball97]

OP is definitely missing Tim Duncan from his GOAT candidates. I don't see a consistent position that includes both Russell and Kareem and excludes Timmy.

But yeah Giannis is the clear choice from this generation if anyone is to rise to that level.

I gotta disagree on Duncan. Sure his peak and longevity are among the best but what gets overlooked is that his prime doesn't stack up that well compared to most of the rest of the top 10. Russell and especially Kareem pretty much dominated the league for a decade straight. That to me is enough to put Duncan in the next tier. Like I do agree Duncan's career value is similar to Kareem but can you really argue Duncan ahead of all of Kareem, Russell, Wilt, MJ and LeBron? I struggle to find a criteria that would put Duncan at the top, while all the others could be argued much easier. Can you really be called a GOAT candidate if you can't really be argued to be the best ever in good faith?

[jalengreen]

I have two GOAT candidates from the 60s in Bill Russell and Wilt, depending on the criteria you use one can get there or the other.

But after that I think it is more or less consensus that each generation brought one GOAT contender:
Kareem
Michael Jordan
LeBron James

We're getting away from the LeBron era and we're getting stunning performances left and right. So... who do you think will be the next entering GOAT conversations? (Or more likely to?) Also can this generation bring us two GOAT candidates at a time?

So far Giannis and Luka have absolutely tremendous careers for their age. Anyone else? Ja Morant? Jokic? Embiid? Tatum?

Thought this could be a fun thread to look 10 years from now! It's just guessing so no one can be sure but... take a guess and have fun!

Russell and Bird are oddly missing from your list. Both considered GOAT by many in their time.

they mention russell at the start

[70sFan]

OP is definitely missing Tim Duncan from his GOAT candidates. I don't see a consistent position that includes both Russell and Kareem and excludes Timmy.

But yeah Giannis is the clear choice from this generation if anyone is to rise to that level.

I gotta disagree on Duncan. Sure his peak and longevity are among the best but what gets overlooked is that his prime doesn't stack up that well compared to most of the rest of the top 10. Russell and especially Kareem pretty much dominated the league for a decade straight. That to me is enough to put Duncan in the next tier. Like I do agree Duncan's career value is similar to Kareem but can you really argue Duncan ahead of all of Kareem, Russell, Wilt, MJ and LeBron? I struggle to find a criteria that would put Duncan at the top, while all the others could be argued much easier. Can you really be called a GOAT candidate if you can't really be argued to be the best ever in good faith?

I mean, Duncan led the Spurs to 4 titles in the first 10 years of his career. He was arguably the best player in the league in 5 seasons, some may even go as far as 6.

How is that not dominating?

[Dutchball97]

OP is definitely missing Tim Duncan from his GOAT candidates. I don't see a consistent position that includes both Russell and Kareem and excludes Timmy.

But yeah Giannis is the clear choice from this generation if anyone is to rise to that level.

I gotta disagree on Duncan. Sure his peak and longevity are among the best but what gets overlooked is that his prime doesn't stack up that well compared to most of the rest of the top 10. Russell and especially Kareem pretty much dominated the league for a decade straight. That to me is enough to put Duncan in the next tier. Like I do agree Duncan's career value is similar to Kareem but can you really argue Duncan ahead of all of Kareem, Russell, Wilt, MJ and LeBron? I struggle to find a criteria that would put Duncan at the top, while all the others could be argued much easier. Can you really be called a GOAT candidate if you can't really be argued to be the best ever in good faith?

I mean, Duncan led the Spurs to 4 titles in the first 10 years of his career. He was arguably the best player in the league in 5 seasons, some may even go as far as 6.

How is that not dominating?

Like I said, it's impressive but not on the same level as the top 4. Look at the PC board POY where MJ and LeBron have 9, Kareem 8 and Russell 7. Duncan has 4. The shares show the top 4 all having between 9.5 and 11 shares, while Duncan has 6.4.

I can't find it atm but when we did that project of putting the primes of the top 10 against each other Duncan also wasn't among the top performers either.

We're talking about the GOAT and to be the best you've got to stand out in at least something over everyone else. Was Duncan the best player at his peak? I wouldn't say so. Did he have the best prime? Pretty clearly no. Does he have the best longevity? Close but better than Kareem and LeBron? Nope again. Did Duncan have the most team success ever? No. So in what way does Duncan have a realistic argument that puts him above all of MJ, LeBron, Kareem, Russell and even Wilt?

[70sFan]

I gotta disagree on Duncan. Sure his peak and longevity are among the best but what gets overlooked is that his prime doesn't stack up that well compared to most of the rest of the top 10. Russell and especially Kareem pretty much dominated the league for a decade straight. That to me is enough to put Duncan in the next tier. Like I do agree Duncan's career value is similar to Kareem but can you really argue Duncan ahead of all of Kareem, Russell, Wilt, MJ and LeBron? I struggle to find a criteria that would put Duncan at the top, while all the others could be argued much easier. Can you really be called a GOAT candidate if you can't really be argued to be the best ever in good faith?

I mean, Duncan led the Spurs to 4 titles in the first 10 years of his career. He was arguably the best player in the league in 5 seasons, some may even go as far as 6.

How is that not dominating?

Like I said, it's impressive but not on the same level as the top 4. Look at the PC board POY where MJ and LeBron have 9, Kareem 8 and Russell 7. Duncan has 4. The shares show the top 4 all having between 9.5 and 11 shares, while Duncan has 6.4.

I can't find it atm but when we did that project of putting the primes of the top 10 against each other Duncan also wasn't among the top performers either.

We're talking about the GOAT and to be the best you've got to stand out in at least something over everyone else. Was Duncan the best player at his peak? I wouldn't say so. Did he have the best prime? Pretty clearly no. Does he have the best longevity? Close but better than Kareem and LeBron? Nope again. Did Duncan have the most team success ever? No. So in what way does Duncan have a realistic argument that puts him above all of MJ, LeBron, Kareem, Russell and even Wilt?

Not going to argue too much, as I don't have Duncan as the GOAT either. Having that said, I think that Duncan's peak has the argument for GOAT peak and his prime is massively underrated here, mostly because people don't view him faborably after 2003 due to lower scoring load.

[Texas Chuck]

I gotta disagree on Duncan. Sure his peak and longevity are among the best but what gets overlooked is that his prime doesn't stack up that well compared to most of the rest of the top 10. Russell and especially Kareem pretty much dominated the league for a decade straight. That to me is enough to put Duncan in the next tier. Like I do agree Duncan's career value is similar to Kareem but can you really argue Duncan ahead of all of Kareem, Russell, Wilt, MJ and LeBron? I struggle to find a criteria that would put Duncan at the top, while all the others could be argued much easier. Can you really be called a GOAT candidate if you can't really be argued to be the best ever in good faith?

I mean, Duncan led the Spurs to 4 titles in the first 10 years of his career. He was arguably the best player in the league in 5 seasons, some may even go as far as 6.

How is that not dominating?

Like I said, it's impressive but not on the same level as the top 4. Look at the PC board POY where MJ and LeBron have 9, Kareem 8 and Russell 7. Duncan has 4. The shares show the top 4 all having between 9.5 and 11 shares, while Duncan has 6.4.

I can't find it atm but when we did that project of putting the primes of the top 10 against each other Duncan also wasn't among the top performers either.

We're talking about the GOAT and to be the best you've got to stand out in at least something over everyone else. Was Duncan the best player at his peak? I wouldn't say so. Did he have the best prime? Pretty clearly no. Does he have the best longevity? Close but better than Kareem and LeBron? Nope again. Did Duncan have the most team success ever? No. So in what way does Duncan have a realistic argument that puts him above all of MJ, LeBron, Kareem, Russell and even Wilt?

Essentially you are holding it against Duncan that his career overlapped peak Shaq and Lebron. So having a few seasons where he was merely the 2nd best player to another GOAT candidate and a guy with a GOAT level peak should hardly exclude him from consideration.

I also think people get way too hung up on Duncan' statistical production and ignore this is the 2nd best defensive player of all-time whose teams were dominant defenses almost every single year of his career including the very best in the league over and over again. Not to mention he didn't care one bit about his stats and allowed Pop to sit him in the 4th when he had led the Spurs to yet another 20 pt lead.

I think if Duncan wasn't as good, he'd ironically have more counting stats and then be perceived higher by some.