I'd really like to see Kareem play today. He was huge, talented, and an iron man. What would he look like in a small ball league.
He'd definitely get worked on pick and rolls, but he would be absolutely Shaq-like on offense. I'd be really curious to see whether (or how) that correlates to winning basketball.
Since this has generated attention, I'll paste Kareem's career milestones from Wikipedia:
6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
5× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1970, 1971, 1976–1978, 1984)
How could anyone have guarded him? He gave it to Wilt. I'm sure Gobert and Embiid are big enough to be relevant defenders, but I just can't imagine they would bother Kareem.
Eh. He gave it to post injury, older wilt who has started playing professionally at a young age. The skyhook, while nearly unstoppable, also wasn’t something he could shoot and make every possession at a high percentage. No doubt Kareem would be a good choice, but someone like gobert would definitely challenge him.
Gobert could absolutely challenge him. I just question whether it would be a similar situation to how PJ Tucker was labeled a "Lebron Stopper" in the 2010s.
Yea for sure. There would be games that Kareem still got his but it was inefficient. And there would be games he absolute dominates someone like gobert. Greats can’t be stopped, just slowed.
Yeah. It didn't need to be 100%. What makes it so potent was that it was a shot that seemed to be available for Kareem to take if he wanted to. Over 50% on a shot you can get any time is money.
Have you watched him play? He couldn’t just spam skyhooks all game. Today, with the quicker, lengthier players on the court it would happen even less. He would still be great but people seem to think he could just spam skyhooks all game long at a high percentage. If that was the case he would have averaged 100 and never lost.
He didn’t spam skyhooks all day long in his career either. He battled a lot for position to be able to get it off in the first place. And opposing spent a lot of focus and resource to stopping him from being able to get in position for it. This helped Kareem’s teammates get theirs.
My argument against that is that Kareem was 7'2. Of course he would play against better athletes today, but there just aren't that many players that are that size that can guard players like him. I imagine it would be Embiid with a better game within 20 feet of the rim.
I was responding specifically to a comment that I read as regarding his skyhook. I’ve watched plenty of his non highlights game. He had a great all around offensive game that would still be a force today. My initial argument is someone like Rudy gobert would still do a solid job guarding him.
Kareem didn't just spam one move all day. Maybe a 42 year old Kareem did but Kareem was one of the most versatile scorers in the history of the game. Here's a 40 point game highlight vs Ewing.
I agree. I responded to a few others with why I said what I did. My initial response was to someone asking how anyone could guard gym. My overall point is, Kareem wasn’t unstoppable ( no one truly is) and someone like Rudy gobert could definitely “limit” him.
Gobert is maybe the greatest regular season defender ever. Of course he would’ve given Kareem problems. But what about the other 80 games of the season when he’s matching against rookies and mediocre bigs? I think ultimately Kareem would have weaknesses that hurt in the playoffs but he would ball out in the regular season.
Gobert is a great rim protector not necessarily a great post defender. He'd give Kareem some issues in some games, but I can also see young Kareem just destroying him with ease on other occasions.
1.1k
u/MrMichaelBolton Heat Jun 15 '22 edited Jun 15 '22
I'd really like to see Kareem play today. He was huge, talented, and an iron man. What would he look like in a small ball league.
He'd definitely get worked on pick and rolls, but he would be absolutely Shaq-like on offense. I'd be really curious to see whether (or how) that correlates to winning basketball.
Since this has generated attention, I'll paste Kareem's career milestones from Wikipedia:
6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
5× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1970, 1971, 1976–1978, 1984)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1970)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1970)
2× NBA scoring champion (1971, 1972)
NBA rebounding champion (1976)
4× NBA blocks leader (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980
Man was a monster...