The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with an examination of how to best approach evaluating historical players through the lens of statistics.

With Rich Kraetsch on assignment (probably scouring the sports libraries of America to research the NBA's elite), Jason Mann talks to Hardwood Paroxysm editor-in-chief Ian Levy about what the numbers can and cannot tell us, where statistics can fill in the blanks if footage isn't available, how we handle disparity in eras and styles of play, how much should we value being very good for a long time vs. being great for a shorter time, any players whose numbers are surprising, and much more.

Original airdate: 8/6/15