Michael Jordan tormented many fanbases over the course of his storied NBA career, but none of them hated him anywhere near as much as Detroit Pistons fans did. Jordan’s Chicago Bulls had a toxic, intense rivalry with the Bad Boy Pistons, and so it is no surprise that Michigan native and former NBA player Grant Long does not think he is the GOAT.
Long, who also played for the Pistons after that rivalry had died down, revealed during an appearance on the Crossover Podcast that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is his GOAT.
“MJ is not the GOAT,” Long said. “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the GOAT. And don’t tell me about, ‘Well, all he’s got is a skyhook.’ That’s what you’re a prisoner of the moment of.”
Abdul-Jabbar finds himself on the fringes of the GOAT debate nowadays. It has largely come down to Jordan and LeBron James, but he isn’t a terrible selection by any means.
Long also went on to clarify that he was considering high school and college careers as well here. He is willing to have a conversation if you’re only talking about NBA careers, but makes it clear there is no debate to be had otherwise.
“If we’re going to have that debate, you would also have to put a criteria on it,” Long stated. “And say, ‘What are you saying?’… If you just say we’re talking about NBA, we can have a discussion. But if you’re talking about body of work, nobody beats Kareem.”
It would be hard to argue against Abdul-Jabbar being the greatest if you take everything into account. He enjoyed tremendous success at every level.
Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, first starred for Power Memorial Academy, leading them to three straight New York City Catholic championships. He would finish his high school career with a remarkable 79-2 record.
Abdul-Jabbar then headed to UCLA, and he probably had the greatest college career ever. He won three straight national titles with the Bruins and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player on each occasion. Abdul-Jabbar would better his high school record in college, going 88-2 at UCL.
There was little doubt that Abdul-Jabbar was going to become an absolute superstar in the NBA, and he might have surpassed expectations. The Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the first pick in the 1969 NBA Draft, and he’d go on to win six titles, two Finals MVPs, six MVPs, and two scoring titles. Simply put, the man was a winner.
Jordan did win a national title with North Carolina, but his accomplishments in high school and college pale in comparison. His NBA career was better than Abdul-Jabbar’s, though.
Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. He tends to still be the most popular pick for that GOAT title, unless you have ties to the Pistons or Michigan, in general.
Pistons icon Isiah Thomas believes James is the GOAT. His former teammate, Bill Laimbeer, is on Team James as well. Those are two men who were very much at the heart of that rivalry.
The Pistons and the Bulls met in the playoffs in 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991. The Pistons won the first three playoff series, and they used the infamous “Jordan Rules” to try to slow down the Bulls’ superstar shooting guard. They were extremely physical against Jordan, but it was only a matter of time before he would break through.
The Bulls swept the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1991 and shut their title window in the process. The Pistons were the two-time defending champions, but wouldn’t even win another playoff series with that core after that series defeat.
By the time Long arrived in Detroit in 1996, the rivalry on the court was kind of dead. There was still bad blood among some of those who were part of those playoff matchups, though, and that remains the case today as well.
