Is the GOAT a reference to a goat or is it simply an acronym for greatest of all time? This question has been on my mind all day. I’ve been reading through web pages and trying to determine if LeBron James, Michael Jordan, or some other NBA player holds this title. For those that may not know, Michael Jordan and LeBron James are two of the best basketball players to ever play in the NBA .
“A goat usually is a mammal with flat, relatively unbranched horns (e.g., domestic goats and wild mountain goats) or sometimes other kinds of antlers (e.g., gazelles, impalas, etc.)” ( Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia ).
So let’s look at the math. That should quickly tell us if one of these guys hold this particular title. We’ll start with Michael Jordan . He spent between 1984-2003 playing for the Chicago Bulls . During that time he played in 1,072 games. Let’s say the average game is 48 minutes long. That would give us a total time of 5,832 minutes or 86 hours 37 minutes playing basketball. Let’s take that number and divide it by the number of days in between October 21, 1984 to April 11, 2003 which was 10,081 days . That would give us an average of 1.37 hours a day playing basketball over 25 years. That’s a lot of time spent on the court! Let’s look at LeBron James now. He’s been playing for the Miami Heat since 2010 and has played in 558 games.
The goat is an unproven player?
We get a result of 7.3 hours a day for 23 years and 10 months . So the answer is a resounding NO ! Michael Jordan did not play basketball for almost 8 hours a day for over two decades! However, LeBron James did . He played for between 2003-2017 which was 1,088 games total. Let’s say the average game was also 48 minutes long. This would be 5,936 minutes or 88 hours 37 minutes . The days between October 29th 2003 to September 12, 2017 gave us 11,081 days . Let’s divide that number by the number of hours LeBron played basketball in his career so far and we get 8.5 hours a day . LeBron James has been playing basketball for almost 9 hours a day!
I can’t seem to find the answer I’m looking for. Who is the goat , LeBron or Jordan ? Well, if we’re going by time spent playing, LeBron wins hands down. If we’re going by win/loss record (which some people say is the true measure of greatness), LeBron also wins. BUT, if we’re going by championships (which is what GOAT usually means), Michael Jordan has 6 rings to LeBron’s 3. So, it goes without saying that since LeBron has played almost 2 more years than Jordan did , he’ll likely end up with more titles than Mike did. BUT, LeBron will have to play a while longer in order to truly surpass Jordan .
Some people believe that the goat is Lebron James, while others think it’s Michael Jordan.
The time and dedication put into playing a sport definitely makes one a true champion. LeBron James is the goat , but Michael Jordan had more rings, so it goes without saying that both players are amazing at their respective sports. Some may say that Lebron has only won 3 championships because of the two he played with Dwayne Wade. Others say that Michael Jordan won his championships because of the strong players he played with, such as Scottie Pippen.
The goat , by definition, could be either or both of these players, but since the term GOAT normally refers to its acronym meaning “greatest of all time”, it seems that many believe LeBron James is the true GOAT .
About The Author
