When the question of who is the GOAT of the NBA comes around, two names are often spewed out as responses. Those, of course, are Michael Jordan and LeBron James. The debate between the two is seen all over social media where usually name-calling ensues between the debaters.
Recently, The Athletic posted their anonymous NBA player poll for 2024. They asked numerous questions to the players, one of which was who is the GOAT in the sport.
HoopsHype also posted their player poll, but they only asked them who they would pick as the best NBA player of all time. Notably, this poll wasn’t anonymous. Here are the results from their poll.
HoopsHype Asks Current Players Who the NBA GOAT is
Results From Hoopshype’s Player Poll For the NBA GOAT
In the Athletic’s player poll, Jordan beat out James by a very slim margin as to being the NBA GOAT. There were 133 votes cast in the poll with Jordan garnering 45.9% of the vote compared to James with 42.1%. Jordan’s lead has been shrinking on James from previous years that The Athletic asked the question.
HoopsHype’s player poll received 100 votes cast when asking about the best NBA player ever.
The gap between the top two was a little larger when compared with The Athletic. Jordan received nearly half the votes with 49, and James was picked 37 times.
Which Players Voted For Jordan and Which Voted For James?
As mentioned, HoopsHype’s poll was not anonymous like The Athletic’s. While not everyone’s vote is shown by HoopsHype, some allowed themselves to be on record as to why they picked either of the two.
Those who voted for Michael Jordan include KJ Martin, Dennis Smith Jr., Cody Zeller, CJ McCollum, Bojan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes, and Gui Santos.
LeBron James voters include Malcolm Brogdon, Sandro Mamukelashvilli, Zach Collins, Bruno Fernando, Dyson Daniels, Malik Monk, and Spencer Dinwiddie.
HoopsHype’s poll mentioned that eight players who were teammates of James voted. Four selected Jordan, and four selected James.
Who Received the Other Votes?
All in all, Jordan and James received 86 of the 100 votes in HoopsHype’s poll.
The others to receive votes are Kobe Bryant (9), Carmelo Anthony (1), Kevin Durant (1), Larry Bird (1), Dwyane Wade (1), and Bill Russell (1).
The Athletic’s poll saw Paul Pierce receive a vote for best player of all time. While he is a deserving Hall of Famer, it was quite surprising to see someone consider him the GOAT. Since the poll was anonymous, it’s unclear who cast the vote for him.
Most votes for “GOAT” in The Athletic’s survey of current NBA players:
1. Michael Jordan
2. LeBron James
3. Kobe Bryant
4. Steph Curry
5. Magic Johnson
6. Paul Pierce pic.twitter.com/Xoie5EcSjU— Guru (@DrGuru_) April 22, 2024
There are a couple of surprises on HoopsHype’s poll results as well. Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Durant are outstanding players, but none are seen as the best to ever do it (except by the player who voted for each of them).
While some voters were revealed in HoopsHype’s poll, the votes cast on those three were not revealed. Ultimately the NBA GOAT debate is one that will not end anytime soon.
