Debates about the GOATs of the NBA often center on legends like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. This focus, however, could overshadow the unsung heroes of the past, who have significantly changed the game due to their pure dominance. Ex-NBA player and Utah Jazz legend John Stockton dismisses these three and answers his most hated question- “Who’s the best of all time”?

When asked to give his take on the GOAT debate, John Stockton disagreed and said that Jordan, James, and Kobe would not even be his top five picks. “I wouldn’t use those three. Some of those threes or one of those threes wouldn’t even be in my top five,” said Stockton. In GOAT debates, people often judge players by their achievements and the awards and recognitions they have earned along their journey. Stockton has a different opinion. For him, it’s about players who impacted the game, shaping what the NBA is today. Stockton then revealed his GOAT list.

“Who’s anybody to say, well it’s of those three? Wilt Chamberlain. They changed rules to negate how dominant he was. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a leading scoring shot blocker in the history of the game for 40 years, is it now?” said Stockton. In Stockton’s opinion, players who have brought a change to the game through their pure dominance and impressive abilities made it to his top 5 list.

Chamberlain is one of the select few to make it over 30,000 points in his NBA career. Additionally, he is the NBA’s all-time leading rebounder with 23, 924. His skills were so far beyond his competitors that rules had to be changed to harness his exceptional skills. While speaking about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the world may never see such an athlete again who dominates the sport for as long and as skillful as this prolific center has done.

Amidst the ones that Stockton dismissed, the Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan led the team to six NBA championships and earned five MVP awards. He emerged as the highest scorer in NBA history, averaging 30.1 points per game. LeBron James has earned four NBA titles and four MVP awards throughout his career. However, he became the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar with over 39000 points.

The ones that Stockton chose as his GOATs had been instrumental in bringing about certain changes in the pro league. Let’s look at what they did.

How Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, and others changed the rules of the game

Wilt Chamberlain dominated every game with his natural scoring abilities. The NBA “widened the paint” to increase the width from 12 to 16 feet. This move made it challenging for him to get closer to the basket. Chamberlain struggled with free throws, due to his unique build. To compensate for this, he would leap from the free throw line and dunk the ball after it has bounced off the backboard. This forced the NBA to introduce a new rule, which prevented players from moving from the free-throw line before the ball touched the rim. Additionally, Chamberlain’s 100-point record hasn’t been beaten yet.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stood tall at 7 foot 2 inches. The NCAA introduced the Lew Alcindor law, which banned dunking from 1967 to 1976. On the other hand, Shaquille O’Neal’s powerful dunks that shattered backboards forced the NBA to redesign its backboards. Further, the “Barkley rule,” influenced by Charles Barkley, prevented players from dribbling more than 5 seconds in the paint.

According to John Stockton, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar often get overlooked in the GOAT debates. These legends brought impactful changes to the game and had impressive scoring averages. If the NBA had kept the same rules, stats such as Jordan’s and James’s might not have been very impressive today.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.