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The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-running debate over the league’s greatest player.
In the past two decades, much of the often spirited discussion has centered on Michael Jordan and four-time league MVP LeBron James.
Decorated former U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps suggested the six-time NBA champion Jordan was the clear leader in the league’s hierarchy.
“[No.] 23, the original, the original GOAT,” he replied, when asked at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year ceremony to choose between the Chicago Bulls legend and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
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LeBron James, left, and Michael Jordan attend the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Feb. 20, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Phelps said he drew inspiration from Jordan’s game and applied it to swimming.
“For me, Michael Jordan was always the one I looked up to and wanted to do what he did in basketball in the sport of swimming. So, Jordan.”
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Phelps also picked Jordan when asked to decide between Jordan and 15-time major golf champion Tiger Woods.
Serena Williams, who won the U.S. Open singles title six times during her storied career, also could not dethrone Jordan from Phelps’ list. “Going to say MJ for the sweep.”
WNBA icon Diana Taurasi and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady were also compared to Jordan, with both falling short — in Phelps’ opinion.
Phelps’ name was even mentioned, but he admitted that even he could not measure up to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer.
Retired U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps says six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan is the NBA’s GOAT. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
“For me, he was my childhood idol. Again, watching him on and off the court, what he did, how he handled himself,” Phelps said. “No matter what he went through, when he was on the court, everything was left behind, and he was able to be who he was trying to be… the best version of himself. There were no excuses and, for me, that’s kind of how I modeled my career.”
Phelps won 28 Olympic medals — the most of all time by a single athlete. He is widely considered the greatest Olympian in history.
In 1996, the NBA unveiled its 50 Greatest Players list, recognizing the top players in league history up to that point.
The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-running debate over the league’s greatest player of all time. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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The list became known as the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. A quarter-century later, the league debuted another anniversary list, its 75th Anniversary Team, featuring legendary athletes from different eras.
Notably, the list of names was not ranked in any specific order.
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