Michael Jordan is still the greatest of all time—at least according to an anonymous group of NBA players. The Athletic surveyed 108 NBA players, 58.3 percent of whom said Jordan would top their overall rankings. LeBron James was second with 33 percent of the vote, while Kobe Bryant came in third with 6.8 percent.
What’s more noteworthy is that the gap between His Airness and King James is closing — and is closing fast, fast, fast. When The Athletic polled NBA players four years ago, Jordan won 73.0 percent of the vote, with James a distant second, at 11.9 percent.
So, what’s changed? James has added to his incredible list of accomplishments, winning his fourth NBA title (with a third team) and passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s career points leader. No one in league history, with the possible exception of Abdul-Jabbar, has played as well at 38 years old as James played this season.
But there’s something else at work: New players have entered the league over the last four years, and with their arrival, an increasing proportion of current NBA players grew up watching James when James was the league’s most dominant player.
As one player who voted for James told us: “I grew up in the 2000s.”
Anonymous NBA player poll 2023: Who’s the MVP? Most overrated player? Best and worst fans?
Journalists from The Athletic spoke to 108 players, including players from all 30 teams, for this year's NBA player's poll.
theathletic.com
I want to know who the one dude who voted for Tracy McGrady was.
Think about it, if we were adults in a group convo about this in person and there was one dude that just kept screaming “Fuck the NBA” we’d all think something was wrong with em’.
