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The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-standing debate over who is the greatest player in the league.
Over the past two decades, much of the discussion, often heated, has centered on Michael Jordan and the league’s four-time MVP, LeBron James.
Michael Phelps, a decorated former US Olympic swimmer, suggested that Jordan, a six-time NBA champion, was the undisputed leader in the league hierarchy.
“[No.] 23, the original, the original GOAT,” he replied when asked at Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman 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 on February 20, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Phelps said he took 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 chose Jordan when asked to choose between Jordan and Tiger Woods, a 15-time major golf champion.
Serena Williams, who won the US Open singles title six times during her storied career, was also unable to dethrone Jordan from Phelps’ list. “I’ll say MJ for the sweep.”
WNBA icon Diana Taurasi and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady have also been compared to Jordan, with both falling short — in Phelps’ opinion.
Phelps’ name was even mentioned, but he admitted that even he couldn’t measure up to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer.
Retired American swimmer Michael Phelps says six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan is the GOAT of the NBA. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
“For me, he was my childhood idol. Again, watching him on and off the field, what he did, how he carried himself,” Phelps said. “No matter what he went through, when he was on the field, it was all 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 has won 28 Olympic medals – the most ever won by a single athlete. He is widely considered the greatest Olympian in history.
In 1996, the NBA unveiled its 50 Greatest Players list, honoring the best players in the league’s history up to that point.
The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-standing debate over the league’s greatest player of all time. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The list became known as the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. A quarter century later, the league launched another anniversary roster, its 75th Anniversary Team, featuring legendary athletes from different eras.
It should be noted that the list of names was not in any specific order.
