Who do PVHS Students think is the Greatest Basketball Player of All Time?

Jonathan Liu, Sports Editor|March 14, 2023

When the casual fan discusses basketball, one thing always comes to mind: who is the Greatest of All Time?

 LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Or is it Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, or others? To some fans, it’s a tough debate to have. 

“I believe Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T., but I have personal favorite players such as Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson,” junior Kaya Bilgic said. 

 In the month of February, LeBron James has become the number one scorer in the history of the NBA, passing Kareem with 38,390 points and counting with his career. 

To some fans, this does not change the fact that they think James is the greatest of all time. 

“In my opinion, LeBron has been the G.O.A.T. for a long time, and him breaking the scoring record didn’t influence my opinion,” junior Aaron Paik said.

 While LeBron has the upperhand on Jordan with the scoring record, Jordan counters that with other accolades. 

Jordan has accomplished a career with six championships compared to James’s four, has earned five MVP awards to LeBron’s four, and has 10 NBA scoring titles to LeBron’s one. 

However, LeBron has dominated Jordan in other categories such as All NBA awards, and All Star appearances. 

To some fans, in order for LeBron to be considered the G.O.A.T. is if he wins a couple more championships to end his career.

 “The only way [LeBron] will be considered the G.O.A.T. to me is if he matches Jordan in championships and wins another MVP to match Jordan as well,” junior Will Jorczack said. 

Aside from NBA fans, current and former NBA players have also been tasked to answer who their “G.O.A.T.” is. 

As YouTuber “​​JxmyHighroller” collected all this data from player interviews, it is well-documented that Jordan and James’ peers view Jordan as the clear “G.O.A.T.”. 

Out of 112 players surveyed, 69 voted Jordan as the G.O.A.T. compared to 30 votes for James. 

Excluding the votes for other players such as Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan accumulated 70% of the votes to LeBron’s 30. 

As James’s career is nearing an end, the question now is: Is a player in the future going to overtake James and Jordan as “G.O.A.T.” candidates? 

“It’s definitely possible that another player could overtake LeBron and Jordan as the G.O.A.T. with the new talent coming in the league, but I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon,” senior Faizan Jaffer said.