Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at 4:39 pm  |  226 responses

Kareem Writes Heartfelt Letter To Pippen

by Eldon Khorshidi / @eldonadam

And it don’t stop. Scottie Pippen’s “LeBron may be the greatest ever” comments have boiled over ten-fold, with numerous NBA voices and opinions lashing out either in support, disbelief, or disgust. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar expressed his thoughts Tuesday, with a heartfelt ‘open letter’ reminding Pippen to think before making claims, whether about LeBron James or Michael Jordan. Abdul-Jabbar has a friendly yet angry tone throughout, and perhaps caps off his argument with a subtle message. Obtained by the LA Times:

How Soon They Forget: An Open Letter to Scottie Pippen

Dear Scottie,

I have nothing but respect for you my friend as an athlete and knowledgeable basketball mind. But you are way off in your assessment of who is the greatest player of all time and the greatest scorer of all time. Your comments are off because of your limited perspective. You obviously never saw Wilt Chamberlain play who undoubtedly was the greatest scorer this game has ever known. When did MJ ever average 50.4 points per game plus 25.7 rebounds? (Wilt in the 1962 season when blocked shot statistics were not kept). We will never accurately know how many shots Wilt blocked. Oh, by the way in 1967 and 68, Wilt was a league leader in assists. Did MJ ever score 100 points in a game? How many times did MJ score more than 60 points in a game? MJ led the league in scoring in consecutive seasons for 10 years but he did this in an NBA that eventually expanded into 30 teams vs. when Wilt played and there were only 8 teams.

Every team had the opportunity to amass a solid nucleus. Only the cream of the basketball world got to play then. So MJ has to be appraised in perspective. His incredible athletic ability, charisma and leadership on the court helped to make basketball popular around the world — no question about that. But in terms of greatness, MJ has to take a backseat to The Stilt.

In terms of winning, Michael excelled as both an emotional and scoring leader but Bill Russell’s Celtics won eight consecutive NBA Championships. Bill’s rebounding average per game is over 22.5 lifetime, MJs best rebounding years was eight per game (1989). But we will never know exactly how many shots Bill Russell blocked because again, they never kept that statistic while he played. However, if you ask anybody that played against Russell, they will just roll their eyes and say he blocked all the shots he wanted to block in the crucial moments of a game.

Bill played on a total of 11 championship teams and as you very well know, Scottie, the ring is the thing, and everything else is just statistics. So I would advise you to do a little homework before crowning Michael or LeBron with the title of best ever. As dominant as he is, LeBron has yet to win a championship. I must say that it looks like Miami has finally put the team together that will change that circumstance. Its my hope that today’s players get a better perspective on exactly what has been done in this league in the days of yore.

Affectionately, 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer

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  • http://www.slamonline.com blackvictory23

    yep…assists were a lot lot harder to record back then. If a 26yr old Lebron keeps this level of play for another seven to eight years (Kobe turns 33 this August) then he’ll end up the GOAT.

  • Vanravan

    This issue of who’s the best is really stupid, cuz we can’t compare the eras. Wilt and Bill make their own statement on their era, but if they palyed in the late 80′s early 90′s , when the game start losing some phisically and start to be more fast and athletic they might can’t keep the pace , or even if they play today they wouldn’t make so many block shots because with the new rules their phisically will put the on foul trouble every single game.
    So in my opinion the greatest ever is MJ , not because is better than Wilt or Bill but what he accomplished in is era. The late 80′s and the early 90′s was , for me , the best era ever, a lot of teams , have a great players , even hall of famers and MJ simply destroyed their dreams of winning….!

  • Tolo

    hmmmmmmm…

    no i got nothing.

    no comment.

    word.

  • zp

    1.Larry Bird
    2.Wilt Chamberlin
    3.Bill Russel
    4.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    5.Shaquille O’Neal

  • http://www.twitter.com/SylvanusUagbor Sovain

    I think Kareem is still offended that when greats are mentioned, he’s not the first name that gets acknowledged, better yet, he is still salty that the Laker organization hasn’t coronated his greatness with a statue in LA. Jabbar is barely mentioned in great centers. A lot of people are putting Shaq n front of him.

  • Gman

    I think its important to state… the GOAT is the one everyone keeps getting compared too.

  • marc

    Honestly i think you cant have a greatest of all time in basketball or in any sport because it is too hard to tell. If any of the players that kareem named including himself, played in a different era will they still produce or dominate the same? It is easier to say they are the greatest players of THEIR time. And also why didn’t kareem include Oscar Robertson?

  • bill

    yo man u crazy thinkin that mj is not greatest. u must i dont even no what are. but ur crazy

  • zp

    Amen Kareem! MJ or lebron is not the greatest players of all time.

  • AD

    Larry Bird is the greatest of all time…. ALL Hail the white man

  • zp

    Amen Kareem! MJ or Lebron Are not the greatest players of all Time.

  • zp

    You tell them AD!!!!

  • http://pickandroll.tumblr.com/ airs

    wtf i missed EVERYthing.

  • Yesse

    His letter makes sense, but i still can’t believe he behaves like this. Nobody in modern basketball has this kind of ego, not even LeBron or Kobe. This is embarrassing and i think we can call this the “Kareem Abdul Kanye West Syndrome”.

  • barnabusb

    Wilt was mad talented but he played against old, fat white guys who chain smoked and drove taxis in the off season.

  • madterps

    Sorry everyone but there is no real greatest of all time per say, as there might be someone else in the future who can win 12 titles, voted the MVPs 12 times, get the DPOY 12 times, etc.

    Records are meant to be broken at some point. There is however the greatest of their era. MJ is the greatest in the 90s, Magic or Bird in the 80s, Kareem in the 70s, Russell in the 60s.

  • Cole

    Kareem is way off talking about Wilt Chamberlain. He was the assist leader because he got bored of scoring, so that season he passed up tons of open shots to try and get an assist. He was the worst teammate ever to play the game and lost his teams plenty of games by only caring about stats. I think Stottie Pippen is spot on the LeBron could “eventually” be better then MJ. As of now he isn’t though.

  • Cole

    @JTaylor–He dropped 63 on the Celts in I think his 3rd year in the league in a playoff game, correct me if I’m wrong. He did everything he could to win.

  • OneStep

    None of this matters. Calm down dears.

  • Eric

    Kareem is an angry, senile old man….. If we send Bron or Mike back in time they would dominate…. Kareem jus hurt himself by sayin there were 8 teams…. Those boys back in the 50′s 60′s and 70′s were slow and unathletic…. Anyone with a decent crossover and mid-range jumper coulda easily dominated the other 7 teams

  • Hambone

    Dear kareem,

    I got a bronze bust at the united centre,what u got??.plus I reckon sucking up to lbj might get me a spot on the heat.did you see me draining 3′s and killing Justin bieber at the asg???

    Yours

    Pip

    Oh yeah lebron isn’t as good as pippen right now

  • Bigfoot

    Kareem is right on! He obviously knows the history of the game better than Pippen.

  • openlyblack

    Kareem continues to be the class act and the intellectual bench mark of the NBA … characteristics and standards that any number of today’s NBA players (especially so-called stars) would do well to aspire to.

  • lukas

    put jordan in wilts league – he would put up surreal numbers (i like the 52-18-10 thing), put him in todays league, he would average like one billion points on 79 free throw attempts per quarter – lets be honest: jordan had to overcome the toughest league so far with other shooting guards handchecking him on the perimeter and the likes of charles oakley waiting for him in the lane to basically beat him up. he is widely considered to not only be the GOAT in baskeball, but also the most wellknown athlete in all sports, all time. nobody influenced the league like mj (even dirk shows his tongue on dunks ;) )and to argue for any other player in terms of being the most important ballplayer ever has to be a bad joke…scottie obviously is on crack these days and kareem is the GOAT in terms of being bitter. Jordan was the greatest is the greatest and will be the greatest.

  • Lew Alcindor

    Kareem is really the best ever. He won more MVPs and is the alltime leading scorer. He played against great competition too. Never doubt the sky-hook!

    Look at the stats and awards then tell me its not Kareem. Go back to his college days too… Best college player of all time too.

  • http://www.blackmountaincompany.com compleatcarpenter

    Kareem is simply offering perspective, something many people lose when looking at the present. In terms of winning, Bill Russell is probably the greatest NBA player ever. No one else comes close. Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double one year. Wilt has records nobody will break. MJ was great and Kobe and Lebron are great, but don’t forget the people whose shoulders they are standing on.

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