Isiah Thomas Questions Michael Jordan's NBA GOAT Status, 'Gave You Some Shoes'

Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is once again reigniting his beef with the legendary Michael Jordan.

During an appearance on Run It Back, Thomas was asked about his thoughts on the ongoing debate over the golden era of the NBA, and he used the opportunity to declare LeBron James as the GOAT over Jordan.

"This is what I don't understand about your era. You guys are playing with arguably the greatest player to ever play, and excuse me when I say this, but y'all treat him like he's nothing," Thomas said. "Instead of pumping your era up, y'all go back and say our era was the greatest. You know, 'Michael Jordan was the greatest, nobody could ever be greater than Michael Jordan,' right? Ok, and then you turn around, and in your era, LeBron James is sitting there holding every single basketball record. I mean, every single one of them. And, you're looking at a Kevin Durant and you're looking at a Steph Curry, but then when y'all talk about the greatest, y'all talk about the guy that gave you some shoes."

The GOAT debate will always be unresolved because people of different generations were impacted by the players in different ways. Even Run It Back host Michelle Beadle admitted to Thomas that she still picks Jordan over James because "that's what made me love basketball, was Michael Jordan, I'm not just gonna change my mind."

Thomas went on to clarify that he's "not a hater," but his choice of James as the GOAT is simply based on statistics. The Los Angeles Lakers star is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, and Thomas pointed out that Jordan "leads in no statistical basketball category."

It will be hard to convince someone who grew up in the Jordan era to pick James over him, but Thomas has made it clear what side he's on in the debate.