Category profile
- Dominance
- 95
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 96
- Honours
- 95
- Statistics
- 96
Career timeline · Points per game
| Season | Points per game | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 28.8 | |
| 1970 | 31.7 | |
| 1971 | 34.8 | |
| 1972 | 30.2 | |
| 1973 | 27 | |
| 1974 | 30 | |
| 1975 | 27.7 | |
| 1976 | 26.2 | |
| 1977 | 26.2 | |
| 1978 | 23.8 | |
| 1979 | 24.8 | |
| 1980 | 26.2 | |
| 1981 | 23.9 | |
| 1982 | 21.8 | |
| 1983 | 21.5 | |
| 1984 | 22 | |
| 1985 | 23.4 | |
| 1986 | 17.5 | |
| 1987 | 14.6 | |
| 1988 | 10.1 |
Data sources
- NBA
- Basketball Reference
- FIBA
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks #2 in Basketball
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks 2nd among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 7th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 95.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 95, Peak 94, Longevity 96, Honours 95, Statistics 96. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 399 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1969–1989 with 20 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1971, which sets the Peak component at 94. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes nba titles 6, mvp awards 6, all-star selections 19, career points 38387.
Immediately ahead sits LeBron James on 95.6, a gap of 0.4 points. Directly behind is Diana Taurasi on 94.2. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar GOAT Score explained
- Dominance95/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Kareem stood above the field while competing. Scored 95/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1971. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 20 years of competition and 20 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
- Honours95/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 95/100.
- Statistics96/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 96/100.
Top Kareem comparisons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — frequently asked
- Is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks 2nd in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 95.2, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
- What is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's GOAT Score?
- 95.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 95 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 95 (20%), Statistics 96 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Kareem Abdul-Jabbar rank all time?
- 7th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 2nd within Basketball.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs LeBron James: who ranks higher?
- LeBron James, on 95.6 against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 95.2 — a margin of 0.4 points.