How much footage actually exists of pre-Magic Kareem?

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ceiling raiser
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How much footage actually exists of pre-Magic Kareem? 

Post#1 » by ceiling raiser » Sat Jul 2, 2022 11:33 pm

I know 70sfan has been doing an amazing job of compiling footage, but I do wonder what the maximum universe of footage is.

Honestly, I am becoming more and more open to Kareem as GOAT, but I probably need to watch a lot more.

What exactly exists in terms of game tape?
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capfan33
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Re: How much footage actually exists of pre-Magic Kareem? 

Post#2 » by capfan33 » Sun Jul 3, 2022 1:00 am

70sFan knows better than I but from what I've seen I would guess 10-12 games a season, with most of those being playoff games. I know that the 71 and 72 series vs Wilt exist in full color with broadcast. Odinn21 also told me that almost the entirety of the 74 finals has been saved. So quite a bit actually and more than enough to make an informed judgement on him.
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Re: How much footage actually exists of pre-Magic Kareem? 

Post#3 » by ceoofkobefans » Sun Jul 3, 2022 1:58 am

You can watch most of his playoff games in 77 there’s a decent amount of 78 and 79 Kareem and we have some Playoff games from his bucks years (along with a few RS games).
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Re: How much footage actually exists of pre-Magic Kareem? 

Post#4 » by tsherkin » Sun Jul 3, 2022 7:43 am

I dunno about GOAT, I waffle between a couple players, but I think there's a short list and he's irrefutably on it. I think he gets a little more pub than he should in terms of number championships because several of his Lakers titles are treated as if he were the focal player when he was more like the third piece by that stage of his career (and hypocritically, most people don't treat D-Rob's '99 or '03 titles the same way). But he was a relentlessly dominant force, had incredible longevity, crushed the 70s as an individual performer, won a ring with the Bucks, bolstered some fairly weak Lakers teams until Magic came along...

And me, I love watching him. He's got a very strong argument as the greatest post scorer the league has seen, and the skyhook is just so sweet. And of all the dominant post scorers, he's the one I believe in the most as far as his ability to play today. If you look at how he managed as an older guy with the Showtime Lakers, you can easily see him getting it done in an up tempo environment today. No 3 and I don't think he had the juice for it either, but I don't think it would matter too much. You can make an argument about "what if Shaq never had that abdo injury and never got it in his head that he needed to carry extra weight for protection" and all that, because Orlando Shaq was a transition monster, and you can discuss the idea of Wilt, but it does not go a lot further than that.
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Re: How much footage actually exists of pre-Magic Kareem? 

Post#5 » by 70sFan » Sun Jul 3, 2022 1:40 pm

If you're talking about (mostly) complete games, then we have around 30 1970-79 Kareem games available online right now. I can make a detailed list for you if you wish, but later when I find more time.

Of course, NBA has much more material in their archives. I wouldn't be surprised if they have way more than 100 prime Kareem games.

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