Pat Riley Endorses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar As The G.O.A.T

Riley says Abdul-Jabbar's separates him from LeBron James and Michael Jordan

Miami Heat team president Pat Riley is linked with LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

He coached Abdul-Jabbar during the 1980s with the Los Angeles Lakers and was in charge when James played for the Miami Heat from 2010-14. 

If anyone, Riley has a highly valued opinion on the subject of greatest player of all time. He offered his thoughts during a recent interview with ESPN. 

“I always said that Kareem was the greatest player of all time because of his longevity,” Riley said. “Kareem was unique from the standpoint that he could play at a high level, play 80 games a year … get beat up because of double- and triple-teams and guys just taking shots at him. He just developed this mental toughness along with a great physical body to really last forever.”

It must be noted that James and Abdul-Jabbar both played 20 seasons in the NBA. At 38, James has shown no signs of slowing down and is on pace to pass Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history next month. Abdul-Jabbar holds the advantage in championships (6 to 4) and MVPs (6 to 4). 

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