For years, NBA fans, analysts, and even players have debated whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest to ever lace them up. And while some bring other names to the mix as well, those two usually get most of the votes.
Of course, both players have more than enough arguments in their favor, and not so many against them. Some cite LeBron’s durability as the only reason why he’s passed Jordan in some stats, while others think that makes him better.
Whatever the case, everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Nonetheless, it’s hard to think of a more authorized voice to talk about that than the actual players. With that in mind, The Athletic surveyed them on the matter again.
NBA Players Still Believe Michael Jordan Is The GOAT Over LeBron James
For the third consecutive year, the players voted the Chicago Bulls legend as the greatest player of all time. However, the gap between him and LeBron continues to get narrower, with Jordan getting 45.9% of the votes, and James 42.1%.
“In this endless debate, His Airness has experienced serious slippage for the third consecutive poll. Jordan had a huge edge in 2019 (73 percent to LeBron’s 11.9 percent) and was still nearly doubling him in 2023 (58.3 percent to 33 percent). Now the gap is only 3.8 percent,” read the report.
According to the survey, James’ longevity and recently broken records, such as the all-time scoring record, have helped him narrow the gap between him and the original No. 23:
“It makes some sense, though, as James is doing things at this late stage of his career that players this age have never done. And these many feats, it’s quite clear, are changing the way some players see this debate,” the report added.
At the end of the day, you couldn’t go wrong either way with whoever you choose, and it’s very unlikely that anyone will change their mind on this subject at this point in time.
SURVEY Who\'s the GOAT?
Who\'s the GOAT?
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