The GOAT debate

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D-rell
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:53 am

The GOAT debate

Post by D-rell »

Summary
  • Chamberlain (9), Jabbar (9), Jordan (7), and James (10) are the only players in NBA/ABA history to finish with at least 7 MVP seasons (MVP seasons = single season combination regular and post season performance determined by value shares metric)
  • Jordan and James are the only players in NBA/ABA history to be the top performers in the Finals "six" times, and the entire postseason "seven" times
  • Michael Jordan from 1988 - 1993 registered the highest peak performance in NBA/ABA history according the value shares
  • Jordan played in 37 playoff series in his NBA career. He was the top performer in 100% of each series dating back to 1985. James, in forty-five career playoff series is 2nd among qualifiers finishing as the top performer in 78% of the playoff series he participated in.
  • Jordan's peak value and unsurpassed consistency in the playoffs are enough to edge out James' longevity so far in their careers, if you as I do, place emphasis on the Finals and Postseason performance



My blog link goes into some depth about my conclusion.

https://matthewmurphy1.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/417/
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Mike G
Posts: 6144
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:02 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Re: The GOAT debate

Post by Mike G »

Thanks for sharing this very good article. You mention a "postseason value shares table", but I don't find a link to it. Is it somewhere?
I fully agree the GOAT is between MJ and LBJ. I don't think the debate is sealed. LeBron has more Win Shares and VORP in both RS and PO; the postseason disparity is greater: 55-40 in WS and 33-25 VORP.
https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi

At age 22, Jordan was 0-2 in playoff series. LeBron was 4-2, had dragged a bunch of nobodies to the Finals, and was easily the best player in his first 5 series. So Jordan at that point was more 'consistently' done before the end of April: He didn't have a chance for a bad 2nd, 3rd, or 4th round.

Tony Parker at 24 outplayed LeBron at 22, and he was not carrying a team.
Did Jordan outplay Kemp in the '96 Finals? Most measures I've seen have it very, very close.
By GameScore, it's Kemp 18.9 - 18.6 Jordan; and MJ played 2 more mpg.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... bulls.html
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Mike G
Posts: 6144
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:02 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Re: The GOAT debate

Post by Mike G »

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/300 ... ferent-now
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