NBA Rumors: Giannis Antetokounmpo Quietly Building Case As Next GOAT

The debate rages on as to who is really the greatest of all time in the NBA with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant occasionally mentioned against the NBA legends. There is perhaps no one else who has done much for the game other than Michael Jordan and the current crop of cagers are aware of it.

Hence, it comes to no surprise that Jordan topped the survey of NBA players published on the Athletic recently. 127 NBA players took part in the poll held between March 16 to April 1, asking different questions about the sport, Manila Bulletin Sports reported.

But the most important of all is the one asking which player deserved to be recognized as the greatest in history. The response of the 122 players who answered the question was unanimous.

According to the survey, 73 percent believe that six-time NBA champion Jordan is the greatest player the sport has seen, with James coming in at a distant second with 11.9 percent. Bryant garnered 10.6 percent of the votes.

With players themselves voting on the GOAT issue, the debate may likely soften a bit but not die down. There are still some NBA fans who think otherwise, mostly driven by the fact that they are fans of either James or Bryant. There are some who may also be reacting since they never really saw Jordan in action and know what he truly brought to the game.

The poll also asked several other interesting questions. That included who would end up walking away with the NBA Most Valuable Player award. James Harden of the Houston Rockets ended up with 44.3 percent of the votes, with Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks trailing with 38.9 percent of the votes.

Another interesting question asked was the choice of NBA player they would select to start a franchise. 36.4 percent of the players say they would choose Antetokounmpo if they were to start from scratch with Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid coming in second and third with a distant 10.4 percent and 8.8 percent.

There is no denying that Antetokounmpo has been having a great NBA season with the Bucks and even credited Bryant for helping him change his mind this season, Fox Sports reported.

“He made me believe it even more,” Giannis said. “You know a guy like Kobe saying ‘Go get the MVP’ made me definitely change my mentality and believe it even more than I can do it.”

If he does not win the MVP award this season, the Greek Freak certainly has the potential to win it in coming years. But perhaps even more interesting is if he can lead the Bucks to the NBA Finals, something that is more important than an individual award.