GOAT - Greatest of all time.

With the NBA Finals on tv this week a lot of discussions have taken place between a number of my guy friends about Jordan, Kobe, Lebron ... you get the point. One of these guys said it just seems unfair to compare players from different eras. His point was that we all do make these comparison but the game changes, rules change, etc... Which makes it hard to compare one era to the next. To a large degree I agree so I thought why not compare  the players to their own era to see where they stand. I figured a simple analysis of one factor although flawed in its own rights might shed some light on the discussion. What the team's performance was the year after the star player left, or how much did a team's performance improve once the player joined. I figure recapping the world champions starting from the 90's would be a good idea to refresh our memories.

1991 - Chicago Bulls
1992 - Chicago Bulls
1993 - Chicago Bulls
1994 - Houston Rockets
1995 - Houston Rockets
1996 - Chicago Bulls
1997 - Chicago Bulls
1998 - Chicago Bulls
1999 - San Antonio Spurs
2000 - Los Angeles Lakers
2001 - Los Angeles Lakers
2002 - Los Angeles Lakers
2003 - San Antonio Spurs
2004 - Detroit Pistons
2005 - San Antonio Spurs
2006 - Miami Heat
2007 - San Antonio Spurs
2008 - Boston Celtics
2009 - Los Angeles Lakers
2010 - Los Angeles Lakers
2011 - Dallas Mavericks
2012 - Miami Heat

Based on the list I think a few players should be looked at, of course Jordan, and Lebron. Beyond that Shaq is a player that is easy to analyze. Kobe is hard to analyze based on the provided parameters, since he has been on the same team the whole time. Shaq is one way to look at the impact of Kobe since he left the Lakers while Kobe was still there.

Jordan 
Jordan left the Chicago Bulls twice first in 1993 and then again in 1998. The 1993 squad had a record of 55-27. In 1994 the record was 47-35 and in 1995 it was 47-35. In 1994 and 1995 the Bulls made the second round of the playoffs. In contrast, in 1996 when Jordan came back their record was 72-10.  In 1998 the record was 62-20, in 1999 ... it was 13-37.(It was a shortened season) Coach Phil Jackson, Jordan, Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Steve Kerr all left the team in 1999.

Lebron
Lebron won with Miami but obviously took his talents there after jumping ship from Cleveland. Cleveland's record in 2010 was 61-21. Without Lebron the record the next year was 19-63. Miami's record 2010 was 47-35 and with the addition of both Lebron and Bosh the record the next year was 58-24

Shaq
Shaq played for the Magic, the Lakers and the Heat during his career. In 1996 the Magic had a record of 60-22 and the next year after Shaq's departure the record was 45-37. The Lakers record in 1996 was 53-29 and the next year it was 56-26. The 2004 Lakers had a record of 56-26, the next year the record was 34-48. In 2004 the Miami Heat had a record of 42-40 and the next year the record was 59-23.

So what does all this mean. My take away is that all these great players including Kobe won when they had great supporting casts and didn't fare so well otherwise. The Jordan less Bulls made the 2nd round of the playoffs, and his return meant championships. The Shaq less Lakers didn't make the playoffs. The Lebron less Cavaliers didn't seem like an NBA team. Shaq won titles with two different teams and was a part of three teams going to the NBA Finals. In the one year Kobe didn't have a Shaq, or a Gasol on his squad his team won 34 games and Jordan on the Wizards... well we all know that story.

At this point I want to mention two players mostly because they exemplify great play and great character.  Duncan has only played for the Spurs and through his career he has never asked for a trade, asked for more pay, argued the team doesn't have enough talent, etc... If they win the current NBA finals Duncan will have five titles in three decades. Another note, is that Duncan has made the playoffs every year he has been in the league.

The other is Olajuwon who is a favorite of mine to shed some light on his career I have included below the career stats of Shaq, Duncan and Olajuwon, just keep in mind these are career averages. The stats speak for themselves but here are a few simple thoughts. Olajuwon is ninth all time in points, twelfth all time in rebounds, first all time in blocks(he has six hundred more career blocks then number two Dikembe) and eight all time on the steal list. Like Duncan Olajuwon never asked for trades, created strife in the locker rooms... He simply just played. I hope you guys enjoyed the information. Looking forward to your comments.