Basketball has its own culture, and the culture finally has a debate worth considering.
My family and I migrated to the United States in 1982 and I immediately fell in love with basketball. Cricket and football (soccer) quickly faded from my mind as I watched this sport that seemed to exemplify speed, power, skill and moments of unparalleled grace and beauty. Players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving captured my imagination and fueled many hours on the playground.
Then 1984 rolled around and Michael Jordan set foot on an NBA court and changed the culture forever! As the years passed and his career progressed he cast a larger and larger shadow on the NBA. By the end of his championship run he had cemented his place as the GOAT (I am choosing to selectively ignore the Washington years, but to be fair he had some impressive moments there too). Jordan's status as the best ever was unchallenged and there did not seem to be another legitimate contender to the throne.
And then the "King" arrived!
I remember being very dismissive of LeBron James when I first heard of him. My thoughts were along the lines of "yeah that's great, he's amazing against high school players, whoop de doo". Once he entered the league in 2004, I will admit, I was impressed at his skill and athleticism. There was never a moment though that I thought that LeBron could, in any meaningful way, challenge Jordan. Then the years passed and I grew to admire his game and more importantly his basketball IQ. Gradually the thought started to enter my mind, can we have this discussion now?
The moment that solidified in my mind that this IS a reasonable debate was the 2016 NBA Finals. That series was LeBron's stamp on basketball history. He took over that series and willed them to victory. Over the 7 games in that series he averaged 30 pts, 11 rebs and 9 assists. It was an absolutely masterful performance. What is absolutely insane is that in a losing effort the following year he averaged 34 pts, 12 rebs and 10 assists.
So who is the GOAT?
Let me end the suspense right now. Michael Jordan is the best player to have ever played basketball professionally. I've been watching and following basketball over the past 35 years and nothing has changed my mind about that fact. That being said there are caveats that exist in my mind. They are very difficult players to directly compare against each other. Jordan was an assassin, his entire mindset was to attack. His primary job was to score and then score some more. On the other hand LeBron's natural inclination is to facilitate. His approach to the game is primarily dictated by how he can get the most out of the team surrounding him.
If I had to build a team from scratch I would probably take LeBron. He is a truly unique player in that he can effectively play and defend four positions. His physical gifts combined with his instinct to distribute makes him the ultimate utility on a basketball court. If I am building a team LeBron offers me an unprecedented level of flexibility in the composition of the team. The other side of the coin is this though and my rationale for why Jordan is the best. If there was one game that I had to win and I could choose any player from history to be on my team it would be Jordan every time. Simply because he will always find a way to win. The primary objective of basketball is put the ball in the hoop and no one did that better than Jordan. Therefore, in my opinion, he is the GOAT!