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Bill Russell had the best last game because it ended with a championship. And the fact that he was a player and a coach is pretty amazing to me. He definitely doesn't get the respect he rightly deserves. He won 2 championships as a player-coach. Next I would say Wilt. He stats were pretty amazing as well. Then I would say Kobe
Yes ..those 60 empty points and more FGA and a near record 21 3pt FGA to gain that all important 17th win is so much greater than winning game 7 of the Finals
To me one of The more symbolical farewell games was the last game from bill Russell because it was maybe his last chance because of the increasing competition in the 70's with Kareem and and Big O starting the 70's like that, its more interesting also the fact he was the coach and still was very effective in defense
Wilt just had kind of an ok game 20-25 boards wasnt as significant then as it is now It was a good game from him not not particularly close to Kobe’s 60 piece
Team perspective would be Bill Russell winning his 11th title. Individual perspective would be Kobe. But it also goes to show just how crazy Jordan's last game as a bull really was. If he had stayed retired, he would've had the best team and individual send off ever. Finals MVP, game and championship #6 winning shot, coming off a MVP season, with 45 points. Best amalgamation of Kobe for individual purposes and Russell for team purposes
Wait how did this turn into a Jordan praise campaign. This just goes to show that if he didn't come back from the first retirement..... Or the 2nd..... and if he would came back from the 3rd...... Here's the facts. He didn't have the best LAST career game and he's not the GOAT. Go Wilt. Unless your GOAT is simply someone who won 6 rings and 6 finals mvp's he's not the GOAT. He doesn't have the stats, or rings, or public persona separate from being made the face of the league for monetary purposes. If so please point it out.
@@mrmacho41 the question was who would we choose for the best final game and I gave two perspectives on that. One based on individual and one based on team sendoff, because it is a team sport after all. There was no "you must judge by this criteria" from the Jonny Arnett
It should also be noted that Russell wasn't "acting" coach of the Celtics. He was the coach, as he had been the previous year when they also won the title.
That's not what he said. He didn't say he was acting like the coach, he said he was the acting coach, which means that he was actively coaching teammates while playing
@@j.isbell03 the implication is that Russell was serving in some temporary or interim basis. Russell was the coach and had been since the previous season, which was also a championship year.
@@donshults7772 he didn't imply though 😂 he literally said he was the coach and also said he was the only player in history to do so. How is that implication, that's as direct as you can be.
@@j.isbell03 direct quote from the video: "...also ACTING head coach; making him the only player/coach to win..." Johnny could have removed "acting" and the implication that this was temporary is eliminated. There is also no mention of Russell being player/coach the previous year.
@@donshults7772 no, the direct quote is "also THE acting head coach" the word "the" clearly tells us he was the main coach. Literally everyone understood that, and you're the only one who think there's implication when everyone else knows there isn't. Also, he didn't mention last year because this video is about the player's LAST GAME. Why would he need to bother mentioning last year when it has nothing to do with his last game? You're making this so complicated and difficult, I swear.
I'm French living in France so it's tough to watch the NBA live sometimes, but I remember vividly, as many of my friends do, that night when Kobe scored 60 (on 50 shots! Those round numbers are perfection) and kind of eclipsed the Warriors season wins record. Kobe was clutch against a team that fought for a playoffs spot. Some people call it meaningless but if felt pretty meaningful to me. This game and the 2010 game 7 are engraved forever in my heart and brain but I still rewatched them for pleasure. This is Kobe to me.
The Jazz were eliminated thanks to a Rockets win earlier that day, so it was a meaningless game in that it was between 2 teams with nothing to really play for.
Right also I remember when it was the warriors getting to 73 wins but the spurs also shared the spotlight to see if they could make the playoffs 20 year in a row I think
Kobe had arguably the best final game of anyone ever he dropped 60 led the comeback basically alone and did it all with pure skill and with little to none of his athleticism left
Every time I look at numbers after Wilt’s name it is very hard to compare anyone else’s with his. Considering he had a successful pro volley ball career after basketball (and was in phenomenal shape through the rest of his life), I would say he left with A LOT of gas in the tank. Point, rebounds and defensive impact puts Wilt on the top of this list in my opinion.
@@sudowoodo5826 only 1/3 of Wilts playoff games came in his early part of his careee when he was averaging 35+ every year. The reason his playoff numbers are lower than his career totals (average wise) is because he was asked to focus more on defense, facilitating, and rebounding and let his teammates help carry the load (once he finally got some useful teammates/coaches & could start winning). His playoff averages are still absolutely insane numbers and only look weaker because you compare them to other numbers by Wilt (that no one else has or ever will come close to again).
Gotta be Bill Russel when you consider that it was literally game 7 of the NBA finals against his biggest rivals and he was also the coach of the team. Kobe had a great individual game but it was also a result of all his teammates constantly feeding him the ball and came in a completely meaningless game.
Watching Kobe lock in and take over the game to lead his team to a win one last time was an incredible experience and not one that I’ll ever forget. After watching those last couple seasons of his career and especially his last one, it had been a while since I’d seen Kobe that determined to win a game. He had been in some close games during that time but that last game, he was not letting his career end on an L, that wasn’t Kobe that was the black mamba and it was imo the most beautiful and poetic ending to a career that I’ve ever seen and possibly will ever see. RIP Kobe we all miss you
Gotta shoutout, while it wasn't his last game, Kareem's performance in Game 3 of 1989 Finals without Magic against Bad Boys at 42 in his second to last game was pretty impressive.
Well, now you gotta do every GOAT's median game. In all seriousness though, I've always wondered which non-GOAT level player had the "best" last game of their career.
While Kareem definitely aged extremely gracefully, Wilt did too. Even after he retired he was dominating pick up games and still an absolute physical specimen.
For me Jordan's last game will always be the final game of the '98 finals. Also, the fact that refs ignored the rules to give Kobe the best possible final game is ridiculous and kind of disqualifies that game for me.
Yep, yep. Had drama, tension, and it was THE BEST, believe it or not, underdog story. Stats? Screw that. They won! They won. Should have never put those balloons up.
I got to go with Wilt over 20 points and rebounds on over 50% while filling the rest of the stat sheet. The best first game and the best last game, Wilt my man!
You gotta go with Kobe's night for best of all but I really like the solid performance that Wilt put out. I just wish MJ could've played the 4th quarter in a tight game for arguments sake.
Bill Russell had the best last game performance, his team were Big Time underdogs to the Los Angeles Lakers with Wilt Chamberlain Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The Lakers were up the majority of the game but Bill Russell found way as the players coach to pull out a last second win in the NBA finals, for his 11th title and 13 seasons. Stats are nice, but you play the game to win. Speaking of stats Bill Russell was the greatest defensive player that ever lived, with a 133.64 defensive win share, above Tim Duncan 106.34 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 94.49 ( an imaginably dominant defender) but in Bill Russell's last game he was playing with a bad back and could no longer score. He still found a way to lead his team to victory. Going out with a championship against the team that was supposed to dominate you is more impressive than high stats in a regular season game.
The reason it is Kobe is because every basketball fan watched that game, knowing it was his last, and wanted to see glimpses of his former self. He didn't disappoint!
Great video. I don't know man, but i feel like Dr. J should be on the list of GOAT. Even thought he didnt earn the amount of awards like the other candidates did, the fact that he popularized the game in the 70's the way he did, definitely give him the title considerations. (Is pretty impressive also how he was in another league, without the broadcasting of the NBA, and still he is named one of the inpirations of a lot of great players from the 80's and 90's).
I'm an MJ fan and if MJ retired in 98 his would have been the most impressive, but of course Kobe's last game was the most impressive, I don't care about the fg% in the season, that game he played like the stunning player he was and he was 38 and in the last part of his career he got more injuries than most of the other players listed here, so Kobe all the way to me!
I have to go with Bill Russel here. Maybe the individual performance isn't as impressive as Kobe or Wilt, but he ended his career with yet another title in 7 games against an awesome team, while playing as the wonderful team-player he's always been, with the usual monumental effort in defense and rebounding. AND he also was the head coach. The whole package is just legendary. Of course this debate wouldn't exist if MJ's final moment was the last dance shot against Utah.
I feel that the best one is probably Kobe, BUT the most impactful one was Wilt. All the other performances either didn’t have any real meaning (Kobe), or weren’t good enough. Bill Russel is the closest to Wilt but he was just too inefficient
@@Ehh-nx7nk shooting and scoring are only two aspects of the game. You say Wilt scored 23 on 53% shooting...well where on the floor do you imagine those shots were attempted; from 18 feet? It's also ludicrous to call Russell "inefficient" when my greatest critism of Bryant is inefficiency. Russell's greatest contribution was always defense and leadership, not scoring. My interpretation was Russell did exactly what he should have.
@@Ehh-nx7nk so...I'll ask again, even if I grant your premise of Russell being inefficient...which game had greater impact? Which opposing team was more likely offering greater competition? The team fighting for its 17th win or the team looking for its 2nd straight title?
Kobe brought his team back from down double digits, played 30+ minutes after some people thought that injuries would stop him from playing at all, scored 60 on 44% shooting, showed that if he set his mind to it he could play like he was still in his 20’s, and made a show of a game that came right after the Warriors went 73-9 in a season, perfect send off
Yea and they were down that much because of him too. When he was on he was spectacular but he dug alot of holes for the Lakers too. He wasn't consistently willing to pass.
Big fan of this channel… I’d love to see a video of building your all time starting lineup. Another idea: in a one game only situation, with players at their peak, what order are you taking them in? It would remove career achievements and I’d be very interested in how those rankings come out, because my all time list looks very different than this list 👀 Just ideas, but love the content!
Jordan's last game to me will always be his legendary game 6 in Utah. His time with the Wizards is a completely different player, like a reincarnation.
I vote Wilt. >20 points, >20 rebounds (wow), on >50% shooting???!!! I saw Kobe's when it was broadcast. It seemed to be a setup to honor him. I am fine with that, but it doesn't seem to be a legit game.
I always have issues with Kobe's last game due to that flagrant fool on Hayward. It really embodies the worst of NBA when narrative and individualism take over sportmanship. Kobe didn't have to do that as he had always tremedous numbers and succedeed his farewell game.
I see where you coming from but I seriously doubt there was any malicious intent behind that. I don’t think him committing an uncalled fouls should be reason enough to not appreciate the whole performance.
@@jxmmykriminallive I don't think it's malicious also, but it was unecessary and Kobe knew well that it would not be called. Kobe already had already a tremendous last game, doing this just made is performance less enjoyable and a bit bitter for people like me that value a lot sportsmanship.
@@ArtMagik it was not unnecessary at all. You play to win, and clearing out some space for catching an inbound pass is a basketball move. How the referees are gonna deal with that move is on them, not on Kobe. It’s just like Reggie Miller’s push on Jordan in 1998 ECF: it’s basically a move to create advantage without trying to injure your opponents (therefore Bruce bowens kicks don’t count in this category)
@@KingSouja35 Yeah giving the best player in the game another advantage so it can be even easier to him to score is absolutly fair and a perfect view of the american way of life.
I think the biggest thing about Kobe's final game is that it was up against the Warriors. We all knew the Warriors were winning the championship and that that game was going to be history, and yet we all watched Kobe. We all just wanted to watch him play one last time, we didn't realize this was going to be the historic game we'd still be talking about.
It’s definitely Kobe’s 60 point masterpiece that’s the greatest farewell game, but WILT!!!! His is right up there he basically left the game the same way he came into it; dominating
Masterpiece? Bryant was 22 of 50 (6 of 21) and 10 of 12. that's 60 points of a possible 133. Bryant took 58.8% of his teams FGA and scored only 45.1% of the possible points. Tonight, against a far better opponent (Warriors), LeBron James scored 56 on 19 of 31 (6 of 11) 12 of 13 and added 10 rebounds (Bryant had 4). James scored 65.1% of his possible 89 points and only took 34.8% of his teams FGA. Bryant's 60 point finale was fun, but it wasn't anything near a "masterpiece"
@@donshults7772 nobody cares what you think I said what I said. How you gonna tell me what I saw idc what shooting percentages he shot. He was in his late 30’s, his body was beyond broken down at that point but he emptied his gas tank and left it all on the court. And he shot 44 percent from the field that’s damn near his average his whole career so go cry somewhere else it was a MASTERPIECE. Better than Jordan’s official last game lmao
@@donshults7772 AND the fact that you brought up stupid ass shooting stats just to try to discredit what I said let’s me know you didn’t understand the meaning of that night and how insignificant shooting percentages is for a performance like that. You probably didn’t even watch the game CAUSAL
Of course it was Bill Russell who had the most impressive final game. A win, in the seventh game, resulting in not only a championship, but his 11th championship. He didn't care about stats. He only cared about winning. Honestly, it's not even close.
Hi Jonny, I have a question, why do you have Hakeem above Kobe and Duncan but dont put him in this “Goat Series”, not in an offensive way, just thought about it. Good video by the way, I found Russells performance super impressive seeing as he was super clutch yet again.
Because Hakeem may be incredible, but he doesn’t have a goat case. Like with Tim, he’s the greatest PF ever 5 rings a couple mvps incredible longevity stats. He has the accolades, the skill, maybe not the “it” as much as others but still has “it”. Hakeem isn’t the greatest centre ever, you can say he’s the most skilled or the best pure player, but he isn’t the GREATEST, and if u can’t be the greatest at your position or have a incredible case to be that greatest at your position you don’t have a goat case. But all that said I think that MJ Bron and Kareem are in a tier above the rest. As great as the rest are they have tiny flaws to their resumes and when it’s all this close you need to be plucking hairs basically to rank one over another.
Kobe's final game is a nice moment, but it's almost hard to call it a game. Pretty much everyone on the court did their best to make it a Kobe highlight show. If anyone else on this list had been fed the ball that much against an opposition that didn't have anything to lose or reason to make much effort, they not only would've had insane numbers, they almost certainly would've been better
Many will say Kobe's game. I watched that game and Kobe was really great, but I'm going with Bill Russell's. His leadership was amazing and he was great defender as always.
I wonder why nobody outside of NBA players called Kareem "The Captain"? David Robinson was called "The Admiral" by media & fans, but the media & fans never called Kareem "The Captain".
I'm pretty sure all of these greats would pick Russell's game as the one they'd like to have as their finale. A bunch of points in a meaningless regular season game (Jordan, Kobe) or going out with a whimper in the playoffs (Bird, Magic, Duncan, Kareem, Wilt) just can't compare.
The 2 players with maybe the weakest GOAT argument (even though they are both amazing and Kobe is my favorite player ever since 2008) had the best exits in their own ways: Duncan and Bryant. One in a team winning fashion while still producing, the other with the greatest individual basketball exit of the NBA (I think). Wilt too. If Duncan had retired in 2014 as some thought, and if Jordan didn't come back with the Wizards, the podium would have been tough to come by!
I don’t normally criticize but Russell was the actual coach of the Celtics from ‘66-‘69. No act, he was the first black head coach in all of professional sports
Wilt have give it to him. Bill and Kobe are considerate as well. Kobe took 50 shots for 60 points that rough. Still respect Kobe tho. Russell had a big rebound number like Wilt did, but did score as much as the other two.
It is either Kobe or Bill Russell. And I will take if you believe it is equal between the two because in my opinion that’s what it is as Ying and yang Celtic and Laker and my two favorite players
Obviously it’s Bill Russell Mike should have played longer I mean it’s His Final Game so give Him the chance that Kobe got As well as keep His PPG Up higher To think what His PPG would be without the Final 2 Years in Washington Being He’s already the all time PPG leader I haven’t done the work but He’d likely be over 33ppg
I'ma Kobe fan, but to be honest, if Jordan stayed retired after that 6th championship, he had the best send off game ever. I mean come on: -6th championship -game winning steal -game winning block -45 points out of his team's 87 Doesnt get any better than that
Kobe’s was the best by far from an individual standpoint and it’s not even debatable. Doesn’t matter how many shots he took, no other legend scored even half as much as he did. Wilt (best scorer of all time) barely got 1/3 of Kobe’s total. It’s doubtful any basketball player will ever top Kobe’s last game as a career finale.
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Other than Kobe, who's farewell was the most impressive?
You should probably put a disclaimer that none of that is financial advice
Bill Russell had the best last game because it ended with a championship. And the fact that he was a player and a coach is pretty amazing to me. He definitely doesn't get the respect he rightly deserves. He won 2 championships as a player-coach. Next I would say Wilt. He stats were pretty amazing as well. Then I would say Kobe
Wilt : to have those numbers at that age spoke volumes about what his game was like.
Individually it will always be the man who scored 💯 in a game !
I've seen both of your Goat Debut and Finale.. What about a Goat Great Performance and Worst Performance? I request as a fan of your work.
10:31 “Which one of these farewell performances was the most impressive. And explain why it’s Kobe…” 😂 you’re not wrong!
Yes ..those 60 empty points and more FGA and a near record 21 3pt FGA to gain that all important 17th win is so much greater than winning game 7 of the Finals
@@donshults7772 Well obviously
@@donshults7772 while being the head coach at the same time
@@donshults7772 yeah, but you wouldn't say something when kobe was holding the 3pt made record before curry and klay broke it.
@@donshults7772 you're not a laker fan. So you don't know sht.
While it’s probably Kobe, it’s only really between wilt and Kobe. They both had tremendous games and while Wilt went out against a rival, Kobe did win
To me one of The more symbolical farewell games was the last game from bill Russell because it was maybe his last chance because of the increasing competition in the 70's with Kareem and and Big O starting the 70's like that, its more interesting also the fact he was the coach and still was very effective in defense
Wilt's game was in the finals too
The way Kobe took that game over was incredible to watch
Couldn't have said it better
Wilt just had kind of an ok game
20-25 boards wasnt as significant then as it is now
It was a good game from him not not particularly close to Kobe’s 60 piece
Team perspective would be Bill Russell winning his 11th title.
Individual perspective would be Kobe.
But it also goes to show just how crazy Jordan's last game as a bull really was.
If he had stayed retired, he would've had the best team and individual send off ever.
Finals MVP, game and championship #6 winning shot, coming off a MVP season, with 45 points.
Best amalgamation of Kobe for individual purposes and Russell for team purposes
You need to listen closer to the question. So it's clearly about the individual.
Wait how did this turn into a Jordan praise campaign.
This just goes to show that if he didn't come back from the first retirement..... Or the 2nd..... and if he would came back from the 3rd......
Here's the facts. He didn't have the best LAST career game and he's not the GOAT. Go Wilt. Unless your GOAT is simply someone who won 6 rings and 6 finals mvp's he's not the GOAT. He doesn't have the stats, or rings, or public persona separate from being made the face of the league for monetary purposes. If so please point it out.
@@ABrown-hs7fy not the goat? 😂 Ok
@@mrmacho41 the question was who would we choose for the best final game and I gave two perspectives on that. One based on individual and one based on team sendoff, because it is a team sport after all.
There was no "you must judge by this criteria" from the Jonny Arnett
@@ABrown-hs7fy Wilt averaged 22.5 ppg in the playoffs. A regular season stat padder. Even Jerry West was better in the postseason.
It should also be noted that Russell wasn't "acting" coach of the Celtics. He was the coach, as he had been the previous year when they also won the title.
That's not what he said. He didn't say he was acting like the coach, he said he was the acting coach, which means that he was actively coaching teammates while playing
@@j.isbell03 the implication is that Russell was serving in some temporary or interim basis. Russell was the coach and had been since the previous season, which was also a championship year.
@@donshults7772 he didn't imply though 😂 he literally said he was the coach and also said he was the only player in history to do so. How is that implication, that's as direct as you can be.
@@j.isbell03 direct quote from the video: "...also ACTING head coach; making him the only player/coach to win..."
Johnny could have removed "acting" and the implication that this was temporary is eliminated. There is also no mention of Russell being player/coach the previous year.
@@donshults7772 no, the direct quote is "also THE acting head coach" the word "the" clearly tells us he was the main coach. Literally everyone understood that, and you're the only one who think there's implication when everyone else knows there isn't.
Also, he didn't mention last year because this video is about the player's LAST GAME. Why would he need to bother mentioning last year when it has nothing to do with his last game? You're making this so complicated and difficult, I swear.
I'm French living in France so it's tough to watch the NBA live sometimes, but I remember vividly, as many of my friends do, that night when Kobe scored 60 (on 50 shots! Those round numbers are perfection) and kind of eclipsed the Warriors season wins record. Kobe was clutch against a team that fought for a playoffs spot. Some people call it meaningless but if felt pretty meaningful to me.
This game and the 2010 game 7 are engraved forever in my heart and brain but I still rewatched them for pleasure. This is Kobe to me.
true
The Jazz were eliminated thanks to a Rockets win earlier that day, so it was a meaningless game in that it was between 2 teams with nothing to really play for.
Right also I remember when it was the warriors getting to 73 wins but the spurs also shared the spotlight to see if they could make the playoffs 20 year in a row I think
Kobe had arguably the best final game of anyone ever he dropped 60 led the comeback basically alone and did it all with pure skill and with little to none of his athleticism left
On how many shots? Did Utah even play tough D?
Johnny Arnett is by far one of the most underrated basketball RUclipsrs of all time 👍.
Means a lot! I appreciate it, man.
Very true
He’s already the best in my opinion
Every time I look at numbers after Wilt’s name it is very hard to compare anyone else’s with his. Considering he had a successful pro volley ball career after basketball (and was in phenomenal shape through the rest of his life), I would say he left with A LOT of gas in the tank. Point, rebounds and defensive impact puts Wilt on the top of this list in my opinion.
Wilt is the best player of all time
@@QankoIvanov Michael Jordan is better
@@Kilooma prove it
@@QankoIvanov still a shitty playoffs performer with inflated numbers
@@sudowoodo5826 only 1/3 of Wilts playoff games came in his early part of his careee when he was averaging 35+ every year. The reason his playoff numbers are lower than his career totals (average wise) is because he was asked to focus more on defense, facilitating, and rebounding and let his teammates help carry the load (once he finally got some useful teammates/coaches & could start winning). His playoff averages are still absolutely insane numbers and only look weaker because you compare them to other numbers by Wilt (that no one else has or ever will come close to again).
Gotta be Bill Russel when you consider that it was literally game 7 of the NBA finals against his biggest rivals and he was also the coach of the team.
Kobe had a great individual game but it was also a result of all his teammates constantly feeding him the ball and came in a completely meaningless game.
it's a meaningful game to kobe fans like me not to take anything away from sir bill russell's sweet farewell game
Watching Kobe lock in and take over the game to lead his team to a win one last time was an incredible experience and not one that I’ll ever forget. After watching those last couple seasons of his career and especially his last one, it had been a while since I’d seen Kobe that determined to win a game. He had been in some close games during that time but that last game, he was not letting his career end on an L, that wasn’t Kobe that was the black mamba and it was imo the most beautiful and poetic ending to a career that I’ve ever seen and possibly will ever see.
RIP Kobe we all miss you
I caught one early. Always hyped to see these videos
David Robinson's last game was pretty sweet. 13pts 17rbds and a championship.
Gotta shoutout, while it wasn't his last game, Kareem's performance in Game 3 of 1989 Finals without Magic against Bad Boys at 42 in his second to last game was pretty impressive.
Just imagine if MJ never came back after 1998 retirement, you just cannot write a better ending to a story, especially to the GOAT's story.
Always remember that MJ's 20 months off from basketball at 30-31 helped him finish his Bulls career with stronger Stats & Accolades at 32-35.
Johnny and flemlo are the 2 best intros to hear coming out of my phone!!! 💯
Love these videos, it’s honestly incredible
Thanks man! Love seeing you drop in :)
Well, now you gotta do every GOAT's median game.
In all seriousness though, I've always wondered which non-GOAT level player had the "best" last game of their career.
While Kareem definitely aged extremely gracefully, Wilt did too. Even after he retired he was dominating pick up games and still an absolute physical specimen.
For me Jordan's last game will always be the final game of the '98 finals.
Also, the fact that refs ignored the rules to give Kobe the best possible final game is ridiculous and kind of disqualifies that game for me.
How could Bill Russell possibly be topped?
Game 7 in a major upset against the Superteam Lakers for his 11th ring. 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐
elgin baylor already left tho
@@shiro9112 Baylor played in that game.
He retired 9 games into the 1971-72 season.
Thank you Jonny for the video!
Bill Russell, always best when you end with a chip
If jordan never came back he would've had the greatest final game and nobody would be close
Dude I’m so used to his smooth intros to Manscaped that I actually was curious how he was gonna make art work into that 😂
Russell hands down. His finale was the perfect ending of a Basketball career.
Yep, yep. Had drama, tension, and it was THE BEST, believe it or not, underdog story. Stats? Screw that. They won! They won. Should have never put those balloons up.
Thanks Jonny. Such a great video.
Hakeem Olajuwon’s last game: 4/17/2002, 4 points on 33% shooting, 5 total rebounds, and 2 assists.
Leaving on a high note is awesome, and we want it for basically every legend, but it's interesting how rarely it actually happens
@@jonnyarnett Most only retire when they have nothing left in the tank.
I got to go with Wilt over 20 points and rebounds on over 50% while filling the rest of the stat sheet.
The best first game and the best last game, Wilt my man!
You gotta go with Kobe's night for best of all but I really like the solid performance that Wilt put out. I just wish MJ could've played the 4th quarter in a tight game for arguments sake.
How sweet, Iverson has that historic crossover on Jordan then he officially puts him into retirement.
Definitely between kobe and wilt for me. didn't realize how dominant wilt was all the way up to his final game.
Could argue Russell cause he won a championship
Michael Jordan with the Wizards is The Godfather 3.
Glyndon Warren notorious aka gdubb at the Special Olympics Texas track event final game of his farewell year in 2022
Ya gotta give it to Kobe, he put up great numbers on solid shooting, and his team *won*.
Bill Russell had the best last game performance, his team were Big Time underdogs to the Los Angeles Lakers with Wilt Chamberlain Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The Lakers were up the majority of the game but Bill Russell found way as the players coach to pull out a last second win in the NBA finals, for his 11th title and 13 seasons. Stats are nice, but you play the game to win. Speaking of stats Bill Russell was the greatest defensive player that ever lived, with a 133.64 defensive win share, above Tim Duncan 106.34 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 94.49 ( an imaginably dominant defender) but in Bill Russell's last game he was playing with a bad back and could no longer score. He still found a way to lead his team to victory. Going out with a championship against the team that was supposed to dominate you is more impressive than high stats in a regular season game.
Can you do more legends last game. Or some of the greatest last games of any basketball player?
We’ve seen the first game, and the last game… now we need every goats single best game of their career!
A lot of the goats had been riddled with injuries at the end, which led to a lot of them having bad endings to their careers :(
I don't see anyone else dropping 60, Wilt didn't drop 60 (it's Kobe)
Most impressive was Russell's last game for a Chip. Second was Kobe's last game.
Another banger!
The reason it is Kobe is because every basketball fan watched that game, knowing it was his last, and wanted to see glimpses of his former self. He didn't disappoint!
Russel was the damn coach too
Great video. I don't know man, but i feel like Dr. J should be on the list of GOAT. Even thought he didnt earn the amount of awards like the other candidates did, the fact that he popularized the game in the 70's the way he did, definitely give him the title considerations. (Is pretty impressive also how he was in another league, without the broadcasting of the NBA, and still he is named one of the inpirations of a lot of great players from the 80's and 90's).
Doc J won the same number of MVP awards as Bryant: 1 each.
Kareem: 6
Russell: 5
Jordan: 5
James: 4
Bird: 3
Magic: 3
Moses: 3
Curry: 2
Nash: 2
Duncan: 2
Problem is so much of his greatness took place in the ABA and no one saw it
@@kingRukus39 doc J was a brilliant defender and a good rebounder. His greatness was always on display; the NBA was just a much tougher league
Dr j has lots of accolades in the ABA
I'm an MJ fan and if MJ retired in 98 his would have been the most impressive, but of course Kobe's last game was the most impressive, I don't care about the fg% in the season, that game he played like the stunning player he was and he was 38 and in the last part of his career he got more injuries than most of the other players listed here, so Kobe all the way to me!
I only saw one of these games, and that's Kobe's last game. It will always be one of those "where were you" games for me.
I have to go with Bill Russel here. Maybe the individual performance isn't as impressive as Kobe or Wilt, but he ended his career with yet another title in 7 games against an awesome team, while playing as the wonderful team-player he's always been, with the usual monumental effort in defense and rebounding. AND he also was the head coach.
The whole package is just legendary.
Of course this debate wouldn't exist if MJ's final moment was the last dance shot against Utah.
I feel that the best one is probably Kobe, BUT the most impactful one was Wilt. All the other performances either didn’t have any real meaning (Kobe), or weren’t good enough. Bill Russel is the closest to Wilt but he was just too inefficient
Russell was a player coach and won the title while contributing 21 rebounds
@@donshults7772 that’s great but Wilt contributed 23 points on 53% shooting. Bill may have been a coach but he shot horribly
He was inefficient but at the same time he didn't compact that by taking numerous shots. He took 7, and some of those I'd imagine were put backs.
@@Ehh-nx7nk shooting and scoring are only two aspects of the game. You say Wilt scored 23 on 53% shooting...well where on the floor do you imagine those shots were attempted; from 18 feet?
It's also ludicrous to call Russell "inefficient" when my greatest critism of Bryant is inefficiency. Russell's greatest contribution was always defense and leadership, not scoring. My interpretation was Russell did exactly what he should have.
@@Ehh-nx7nk so...I'll ask again, even if I grant your premise of Russell being inefficient...which game had greater impact? Which opposing team was more likely offering greater competition? The team fighting for its 17th win or the team looking for its 2nd straight title?
Kobe brought his team back from down double digits, played 30+ minutes after some people thought that injuries would stop him from playing at all, scored 60 on 44% shooting, showed that if he set his mind to it he could play like he was still in his 20’s, and made a show of a game that came right after the Warriors went 73-9 in a season, perfect send off
Yea and they were down that much because of him too. When he was on he was spectacular but he dug alot of holes for the Lakers too. He wasn't consistently willing to pass.
You need to stop excluding Shaq from these lists, he's consensus top 10 if not top 6
Big fan of this channel… I’d love to see a video of building your all time starting lineup.
Another idea: in a one game only situation, with players at their peak, what order are you taking them in? It would remove career achievements and I’d be very interested in how those rankings come out, because my all time list looks very different than this list 👀
Just ideas, but love the content!
Im not sure, and I might be wrong, but I think he did it in either his 50 questions or 100 questions vid
Jordan's last game to me will always be his legendary game 6 in Utah. His time with the Wizards is a completely different player, like a reincarnation.
I vote Wilt. >20 points, >20 rebounds (wow), on >50% shooting???!!!
I saw Kobe's when it was broadcast. It seemed to be a setup to honor him. I am fine with that, but it doesn't seem to be a legit game.
When you update this video for LeBron please include Magic’s last 91 game and Jordan’s last 98 game.
I would love to See every goats best game ranked!
I always have issues with Kobe's last game due to that flagrant fool on Hayward. It really embodies the worst of NBA when narrative and individualism take over sportmanship. Kobe didn't have to do that as he had always tremedous numbers and succedeed his farewell game.
I see where you coming from but I seriously doubt there was any malicious intent behind that. I don’t think him committing an uncalled fouls should be reason enough to not appreciate the whole performance.
@@jxmmykriminallive I don't think it's malicious also, but it was unecessary and Kobe knew well that it would not be called. Kobe already had already a tremendous last game, doing this just made is performance less enjoyable and a bit bitter for people like me that value a lot sportsmanship.
@@ArtMagik That's cause only YOU viewed it as unsportsmanlike. Nobody else cares in the NBA world.
@@ArtMagik it was not unnecessary at all. You play to win, and clearing out some space for catching an inbound pass is a basketball move. How the referees are gonna deal with that move is on them, not on Kobe. It’s just like Reggie Miller’s push on Jordan in 1998 ECF: it’s basically a move to create advantage without trying to injure your opponents (therefore Bruce bowens kicks don’t count in this category)
@@KingSouja35 Yeah giving the best player in the game another advantage so it can be even easier to him to score is absolutly fair and a perfect view of the american way of life.
I love your GOAT series but I think Hakeem and Shaq should be in the conservation too.
I think the biggest thing about Kobe's final game is that it was up against the Warriors. We all knew the Warriors were winning the championship and that that game was going to be history, and yet we all watched Kobe.
We all just wanted to watch him play one last time, we didn't realize this was going to be the historic game we'd still be talking about.
Wasn’t his final game against the Utah Jazz lol
Kobe's last game was against the Utah Jazz
LOL his last game was against the Jazz.
Y’all can’t read properly, he’s saying that instead of watching the Warriors get 73 wins and set an NBA record, we watched Kobe’s last game
@@gggyy7104 I thought that was obvious, but apparently not.
It’s definitely Kobe’s 60 point masterpiece that’s the greatest farewell game, but WILT!!!! His is right up there he basically left the game the same way he came into it; dominating
Masterpiece? Bryant was 22 of 50 (6 of 21) and 10 of 12. that's 60 points of a possible 133. Bryant took 58.8% of his teams FGA and scored only 45.1% of the possible points. Tonight, against a far better opponent (Warriors), LeBron James scored 56 on 19 of 31 (6 of 11) 12 of 13 and added 10 rebounds (Bryant had 4). James scored 65.1% of his possible 89 points and only took 34.8% of his teams FGA.
Bryant's 60 point finale was fun, but it wasn't anything near a "masterpiece"
put it this way...to equal Bryant's 60, James could have shot 2 of his next 19. Would anyone shooting 2 of 19 be called masterful?
@@donshults7772 nobody cares what you think I said what I said. How you gonna tell me what I saw idc what shooting percentages he shot. He was in his late 30’s, his body was beyond broken down at that point but he emptied his gas tank and left it all on the court. And he shot 44 percent from the field that’s damn near his average his whole career so go cry somewhere else it was a MASTERPIECE. Better than Jordan’s official last game lmao
@@donshults7772 AND the fact that you brought up stupid ass shooting stats just to try to discredit what I said let’s me know you didn’t understand the meaning of that night and how insignificant shooting percentages is for a performance like that. You probably didn’t even watch the game CAUSAL
@@michaelbarnes2126 Bryant was the same age, 37 that LeBron was yesterday.
Of course it was Bill Russell who had the most impressive final game. A win, in the seventh game, resulting in not only a championship, but his 11th championship. He didn't care about stats. He only cared about winning. Honestly, it's not even close.
Nice vid
I didn’t see Brian Scalabrine on here
Hi Jonny, I have a question, why do you have Hakeem above Kobe and Duncan but dont put him in this “Goat Series”, not in an offensive way, just thought about it. Good video by the way, I found Russells performance super impressive seeing as he was super clutch yet again.
Because Hakeem may be incredible, but he doesn’t have a goat case. Like with Tim, he’s the greatest PF ever 5 rings a couple mvps incredible longevity stats. He has the accolades, the skill, maybe not the “it” as much as others but still has “it”. Hakeem isn’t the greatest centre ever, you can say he’s the most skilled or the best pure player, but he isn’t the GREATEST, and if u can’t be the greatest at your position or have a incredible case to be that greatest at your position you don’t have a goat case.
But all that said I think that MJ Bron and Kareem are in a tier above the rest. As great as the rest are they have tiny flaws to their resumes and when it’s all this close you need to be plucking hairs basically to rank one over another.
Kobe had the least impressive of the GOAT’s first games, but the greatest last game.
Kobe's final game is a nice moment, but it's almost hard to call it a game. Pretty much everyone on the court did their best to make it a Kobe highlight show. If anyone else on this list had been fed the ball that much against an opposition that didn't have anything to lose or reason to make much effort, they not only would've had insane numbers, they almost certainly would've been better
Many will say Kobe's game. I watched that game and Kobe was really great, but I'm going with Bill Russell's. His leadership was amazing and he was great defender as always.
Now curious about their games right in the middle.
What was the Asterisk for on the Chamberlain stats?
I wonder why nobody outside of NBA players called Kareem "The Captain"? David Robinson was called "The Admiral" by media & fans, but the media & fans never called Kareem "The Captain".
It's not surprising that duncan didn't get a proper send off, it's hard to do a tribute game in the playoffs
I'm pretty sure all of these greats would pick Russell's game as the one they'd like to have as their finale. A bunch of points in a meaningless regular season game (Jordan, Kobe) or going out with a whimper in the playoffs (Bird, Magic, Duncan, Kareem, Wilt) just can't compare.
I really wouldnt say Wilt went out with a whimper considering the circumstances. He could of kept playing if he had wanted to.
#MambaForever 🐍💜
The 2 players with maybe the weakest GOAT argument (even though they are both amazing and Kobe is my favorite player ever since 2008) had the best exits in their own ways: Duncan and Bryant. One in a team winning fashion while still producing, the other with the greatest individual basketball exit of the NBA (I think). Wilt too. If Duncan had retired in 2014 as some thought, and if Jordan didn't come back with the Wizards, the podium would have been tough to come by!
Magic registered a triple double in the game 5 loss to the Bulls in 1991 Finals. That was Magics last game until his ill conceived return in 1995
wheres my goat paul peirce 😖😖😖😂
Kobe went out in style but not on top like Bill Russell.
Your videos really made me fall in love with basketball and inspired me to make some of my own
Hell yeah! That's awesome to hear :) I'll give ya a sub and check out your videos
@@jonnyarnett Wow, thanks man! Kinda fanboying right now lol
I don’t normally criticize but Russell was the actual coach of the Celtics from ‘66-‘69. No act, he was the first black head coach in all of professional sports
Kobe's 60 was the best individual performance but there's an argument for Russell as he lead them to a chip as a player coach
Cannot wait for LeBrons
Wilts. 20 20 game....nuff said
Wilt have give it to him. Bill and Kobe are considerate as well. Kobe took 50 shots for 60 points that rough. Still respect Kobe tho. Russell had a big rebound number like Wilt did, but did score as much as the other two.
08/24/81
Can you please make a video about Elvin Hayes and Joe Dumars.
Fun fact that was Wilts least scoring game
It is either Kobe or Bill Russell. And I will take if you believe it is equal between the two because in my opinion that’s what it is as Ying and yang Celtic and Laker and my two favorite players
6:30 man, look at that rebound!
Wilt was man mode at all times
Obviously it’s Bill Russell
Mike should have played longer
I mean it’s His Final Game so give Him the chance that Kobe got
As well as keep His PPG Up higher
To think what His PPG would be without the Final 2 Years in Washington
Being He’s already the all time PPG leader
I haven’t done the work but He’d likely be over 33ppg
Dwade should’ve been up here bro a goat but for me it’s kobe they won the game and he went craxy
KOBE ALL DAY, IT WAS A LEGENDARY GAME
how about paul pierce's stellar farewell performance?
I'ma Kobe fan, but to be honest, if Jordan stayed retired after that 6th championship, he had the best send off game ever.
I mean come on:
-6th championship
-game winning steal
-game winning block
-45 points out of his team's 87
Doesnt get any better than that
Not about you putting a mid role ad midway through a mid role ad..
Bi11 Russe11 went out epic
Bill Russel...winning a championship in your last game is the best way to end your career.
W vid
Always remember Kobes farewell legendary
Kobe’s was the best by far from an individual standpoint and it’s not even debatable. Doesn’t matter how many shots he took, no other legend scored even half as much as he did. Wilt (best scorer of all time) barely got 1/3 of Kobe’s total. It’s doubtful any basketball player will ever top Kobe’s last game as a career finale.
Bill Russell for me. Won the chip in the clutch
Kobe = most impressive
Wilt = most dominant
Russell = absolute best