The Greatest Of All Time—or more simply, The GOAT.

It is the title bestowed upon one person that is perceived as superior to all the rest. It is the person believed to be the best basketball player of all-time. It belongs to the one who not only battles against the competition, but also against time, history and health, and comes out victorious.

There are many legends, but there is only one GOAT.

But who is it? What criteria determines the GOAT?

Is it stats? Is it rings? Is it longevity? A mixture of the three? Something else?

This is an age-old debate.

You hear it when you go to the barbershop to get a shape-up. You hear it in between pickup games at the local rec center. You hear it at the lunch table in school. You flip on the TV, or play that video you scrolled onto in your newsfeed, and watch two analysts hollering back-and-forth in disgust that the other believes that ‘that guy’ is the GOAT. You even hear it at the park where the old-timer in the neighborhood is telling you about so-and-so, who back in the day could jump up and put a quarter on the top of the backboard, and could have beaten Michael Jordan one-on-one had he just made it.

You probably even made a case for the player that you believe is deserving of the title.

The debate has been going on for decades and has no signs of slowing up. The more time that passes, the more it intensifies.

Throughout the history of the GOAT debate, the people have been left without a definitive answer. However, one guy believes to have solved the timeless debate once and for all.

Ben Hinson is the founder of Hickam’s Dictum, a business intelligence blog where he shares tactical insights across various industries. On Hickam’s Dictum, Hinson published an article titled ‘The G.O.A.T: Who is the Best Basketball Player of all Time (mid 70s — early 00s)?’ In the article, he ranks the NBA’s greatest players of all time from a playoff performance perspective using a holistic weighted ranking system.To ensure accuracy of statistics, Hinson pulled data from basketball-reference.com and audited the numbers by matching them against data from ESPN. He then enlisted the help of his colleague to review his work.

It is hard to argue about the greatness of the players on this list because every player is great in their own right.

However, the order of the players is debatable.

Statistics are useful in determining the GOAT but ultimately, the debate is subjective. Various studies can provide an answer statistically but without context it is hard to fully comprehend the greatness of each player and their accomplishments.

Anyone that has played basketball knows there are certain things that cannot be measured. Intangibles that you cannot coach and may not even be developed. Traits that are innate. Think Jordan’s competitiveness, Russell Westbrook’s motor or Allen Iverson’s heart. No statistical analysis can measure these qualities.

Also, people tend to cling onto the stars of their era. The ones they witnessed growing up that made them fall in love with the game. The emotional connection people feel toward the stars of their generation influences their opinion—people tend to stick with their generation.

These are just a couple of considerations that influence the discussion.

One thing we can be confident in is that the debate will continue going on and no one analysis will provide us with a conclusive answer.

So, is Hakeem Olajuwon really the greatest of all time?

Hinson believes so.

But we all know who the real GOAT is…

Tell me who the GOAT is in the comments below.