Michael Jordan Responds To LeBron James Claiming GOAT Title

The debate about Michael Jordan and LeBron James being the greatest ever has been going on for years with many favoring the former, who has won six NBA titles during his career. But the latter also has big support owing to his domination of the sport in the last decade, which has seen him reach eight straight NBA Finals, while winning just three.

The GOAT debate returned to the front row of topics discussed in the NBA earlier this week after James claimed that he felt like the “greatest player of all time” after he successfully led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA championship by beating the NBA’s current dominant team the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

Steve Kerr’s Warriors are being described as one of the best basketball teams assembled in the history of the game, but the Cavaliers came from 3-1 down to win the finals 4-3 on the back of some dominant performances from James, who was unanimously crowned the MVP.

“The first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying, like, that was all for 52 years of everything in sports that's gone on in Cleveland. And then after I stopped I was like -- that one right there made you the greatest player of all time,” James said during the airing of his show “More Than An Athlete”.

James was criticized by former NBA greats Kevin McHale and Isiah Thomas as they branded his comments disrespectful to the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan.

And now Jordan, the other player in the GOAT debate, has given his stance on the matter. The Chicago Bulls legend made it clear that he has no interest in being called the greatest of all time as it disrespects the former greats of the game, whom he has never played against.

Jordan said it was a “bit embarrassing” when he hears someone mention him being the GOAT as he believes it is difficult to compare different eras. He also wished he could have competed with the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West – two certified legends of the game.

"I don't want it in a sense because I think it disrespects Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West -- you know all the guys that prior to me I never had a chance to play against," Jordan said, as quoted on CBS Sports. "What everybody is saying I am, I never had the chance to compete against other legends that was prior to me. When I hear it, I cringe a little bit because it's a little bit embarrassing because no one knows. I never had the chance to, once again, to play against those guys. I would love to have played against them but I never did."

“And for you to say that I'm better than him ... I mean it's your opinion; it's their opinion. I accept that as their opinion. If you ask me, I would never say that I am the greatest player. That's because I never played against all the people that represented the league prior to Michael Jordan,” he added.