UCLA Basketball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the Greatest Of All Time

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the fans from center court during a commemoration ceremony at halftime of the NBA All-Star Game 2018 at Staples Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the fans from center court during a commemoration ceremony at halftime of the NBA All-Star Game 2018 at Staples Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 18: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the fans from center court during a commemoration ceremony at halftime of the NBA All-Star Game 2018 at Staples Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 18: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the fans from center court during a commemoration ceremony at halftime of the NBA All-Star Game 2018 at Staples Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

With all this talk of the greatest basketball players of all-time, younger generations have forgotten about the real G.O.A.T., UCLA Basketball’s Lew Alcindor, aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The term G.O.A.T. (which is an acronym for “greatest of all time”) has been thrown around quite a bit recently. Most people focus solely on the first letter and forget about the last three, “of all time”. This is a common mistake, especially when labeling modern players as such. Now if we were to analyze who the greatest of all time really is, there is only one person that comes to mind… former UCLA basketball player Lew Alcindor, a.k.a., Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

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When talking about some of the greatest from past generations, younger fans have not experienced all that came before the modern legends, which unfairly excludes past legends. Those who have seen some of the greatest from decades ago, know exactly why they will remain in the conversation as “greatest of all time”.

When using this acronym, many people only refer to notable modern players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. But if you consider every player across their careers, meaning high school, college and the pros, you need not look further than “The Captain” as the greatest.

For those of us that were around to see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, we know exactly why he is the definitive G.O.A.T. Even though several players have carved themselves into NBA lore, they didn’t do what Kareem did.