The G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) debate in basketball nowadays is considered by many to be between two players, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and former Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan.
All in all, generational biases seem to play a major part in one’s G.O.A.T. pick. Many players who played in the NBA in the 1990s or people whose favorite era of basketball was around that time may be inclined to pick Jordan as the greatest ever, while there exists a large group of folks in younger generations who see James as the G.O.A.T. Of course, there are exceptions.
But ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who’s 57 and old enough to remember when Jordan was tearing up the league and stacking up titles, declared that ESPN isn’t a PR machine dedicated to James and blamed James and his camp for adding negativity to the G.O.A.T. debate.
When speaking on the negativity from James and his camp, Smith cited an instance when James’ longtime agent Rich Paul labeled the idea of James being the second-greatest player of all time as an insult.
"When we debate the GOAT, the negativity of it comes from LeBron and his camp, nobody else."
—@stephenasmith on David Falk's recent comments regarding the NBA GOAT debate pic.twitter.com/GAwx2eKv6q
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 23, 2025
“When we say he’s No. 2 all time, we’re appreciating the fact that of the thousands upon thousands of players that have played in the NBA since 1950…LeBron James, there’s only one player we look at and we say definitively we think was better, and that was Michael Jordan,” Smith said. “What did I say to Rich Paul one day? ‘You act like that’s an insult.’ Rich Paul’s response, ‘It is an insult.’ Because that is how they have acted when it comes to the G.O.A.T. conversation.”
Smith and James were embroiled in a beef that was one of the bigger stories in the NBA earlier on in the year. James confronted Smith when the Lakers faced off against the New York Knicks during a regular-season contest, with James’ son Bronny seemingly a topic of conversation during the exchange.
The two had a back-and-forth going for a while, and the elder James even clowned Smith on Instagram after the latter said he would have swung at the elder James if the altercation at the Lakers game had turned physical (even though Smith acknowledged that it wouldn’t have gone well for him).
The elder James posted footage of Smith boxing with laughing emojis, and Smith responded by saying the video in question was a decade old and that he had two torn rotator cuffs at the time. He also accused the 40-year-old of being in his feelings.
Smith has made it abundantly clear over the years that he believes Jordan to be the greatest basketball player ever, and with all of the drama he was in with the elder James just a few months ago, it’s hard to believe he will change that opinion anytime soon.
