Joel Embiid ranks among the most thoughtful and enigmatic young players in the NBA. It stands to reason, then, that when the Philadelphia 76ers superstar was recently asked to name his pick for basketball’s GOAT, he would go with an unconventional, albeit perfectly justifiable, selection.
Recency bias typically plays a huge role when the NBA’s young players name their choice for GOAT, and they generally tab the likes of LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, with some going back a bit further with Michael Jordan. Embiid’s selection takes a much deeper dive into the NBA’s great and storied history.
Making an appearance on “NBA Desktop” with The Ringer’s Jason Concepcion, Embiid named Wilt Chamberlain as the greatest basketball player of all time.
“He’s not the GOAT,” Embiid said of Jordan, as transcribed by Dime Mag. “To me, you got Wilt Chamberlain. I mean, he has all the records. They’re never gonna be beaten. I don’t see anybody getting 100 points in a game. That’s it. He’s the GOAT.”
Chamberlain without question should always be involved in any NBA GOAT conversation. As Embiid notes after all, among the countless highlights from Wilt the Stilt’s iconic career is his unparalleled 100-point game, which continues to generate fanfare and interest to this day.
Chamberlain’s name interestingly has been in the news quite a bit of late as well due to James Harden tying the legend by scoring at least 30 points in 31 consecutive games, the second-longest such streak in NBA history.
While MJ and King James and the Black Mamba may get tabbed by other players of Embiid’s generation, it’s refreshing to learn the young star, as charismatic as they come, knows his NBA history and recognizes that the greatest basketball player of all time very well could have come from a bygone era long before he was even born.
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