Michael Jordan Talks NBA GOAT Debate on Video, Would've 'Loved' to Face LeBron, Kobe in His Prime

The debate over the greatest player of all time is a popular one amongst NBA fans. But one of the primary candidates for that honor, Michael Jordan, isn't all that interested.

"The whole GOAT term is never gonna be something that I ever will get high or low about," he told NBC's Mike Tirico during his MJ: Insights to Excellence segment. "It just doesn't exist for me. I never played against Oscar Robertson or Jerry West. Would've loved to, absolutely loved to, just the competitor that I am. And I actually learned from them. We paved the road to the Kobes and LeBrons, right? And to me, that's the beauty of the game of basketball, that a player after a previous player has evolved the game further. But then—this is how I look at it—don't use that against the player that actually taught you the game, or that you learned from. That's where I have a tough time. I would have loved to play against LeBron, Kobe in my prime, I would love to have played against those guys. But we'll never be able to know that."

Jordan believes the GOAT debate—and how it is marketed and used as a promotional tool in the current landscape—can create animosity among older players, who sometimes feel overlooked in the conversation.

"It is an empty comparison," Jordan said of the GOAT conversations. "You will absolutely never find the true answer to that question. It's just going to keep [going in circles]."

Much of the GOAT debate often comes down to achievements (the number of championships, statistical milestones, etc.) and the context they were operating under (how talented the player's teammates were, whether they had stiff competition and fierce rivals, the style of the game in that era, etc.), with different people often prescribing more weight to their preferred metric. Rarely are they apples-to-apples comparisons, however and often those debates leave entire generations out of the conversation (it's hard to make accurate judgment calls on players who had careers before you were even born, after all).

"Look, I think LeBron has had an unbelievable career, and I admire him for what he's done. Kobe, as well as [Kevin Durant], you know, all these guys who have played in this era," Jordan noted. "I think they've elevated the game of basketball tremendously. I just don't agree when you start trying to put one above the other. It doesn't work. We'll never know. ... We should always honor [the impact of previous generations of players], we should always preserve that, we should always [acknowledge] that they paved the way for a lot of generations after them. I mean Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell had 11 championships. How do you just push them in a corner and say, 'We aren't going to think about you. We forgot about you.' That to me is where I get lost."

The reality is that modern players have more access to technology and analytics, better fitness and dietary routines and generations of players to study as they develop. Every aspect of the game has evolved. We will never know what Chamberlain or Magic Johnson or even Jordan himself might have looked like with the modern tools and wisdom the current players can draw from in their career.

So the GOAT debate is a fun way to pass the time with friends, but it's ultimately a fruitless endeavor.