After snubbing Magic Johnson as GOAT point guard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surprisingly recants Oscar Robertson claim: “Can’t put anybody else in front”
Legendary NBA big man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has seemingly reconsidered his take on who’s the best point guard ever in the league. He is now saying it is fellow Los Angeles Laker great Magic Johnson.
On a video posted on Twitter, now X, The Captain recanted his earlier claim that former Milwaukee Bucks teammate Oscar Robertson was the best ever to have played point guard in the NBA.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explained that after giving it some thought, he should have considered the success that he had achieved with Magic Johnson on the Lakers squad in making his pick.
The 76-year-old Hall-of-Famer said:
“Earlier this week I was asked who’s the best point guard in the NBA. A very difficult question… I picked Oscar Robinson. But I should have said, first of all, that Magic should really get the priority because I played with him on five world championships together and he’s my best teammate ever. So, I can’t put anybody else in front of him.”
He, however, was quick to say that the greatness of Oscar Robertson could not be denied, adding:
“But I have to give credit to Oscar for being the complete player that he was and an example for a whole lot of players who have come behind him. And it’s almost impossible for me to determine who’s the best between all those guys. But I can tell you why - and that's the success I enjoyed with Magic. So there you have it.”
How many rings does Kareem Abdul Jabbar have?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 years in the NBA and won six titles.
He won his first league championship in 1971, playing alongside Oscar Robertson, who was already in the tailend of his illustrious career. Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to their first-ever NBA title, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in their best-of-seven series while winning finals MVP in the process.
Four years later he moved to the Lakers but did not win a title with them until the 1979-80 season, the first year of Magic Johnson in the NBA.
It was the first of five they would win together in the 1980s. The last two of their championships came back-to-back in 1987 and 1988. He played one more season after and then retired from the game.
Apart from winning six NBA titles, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a six-time NBA MVP, 19-time NBA All-Star, five-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member, two-time scoring champion, four-time blocks leader, and one-time rebounding leader, among other accolades.
He had career averages 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks. The basketball great long held the all-time leading scoring record with 38,387 total points until Lakers superstar LeBron James broke it last season.