“Still A Long Way…”: When Magic Johnson Picked His GOAT From Michael Jordan and LeBron James

The craze over the greatest of all time, aka GOAT debate, never ceases to amaze the NBA followers. And more often than not, Michael Jordan and LeBron James emerge as two of the leading names in this argument, giving rise to polarizing reactions. A decade ago, Magic Johnson also added fuel to this fire for one of the first times, naming his preference out of the two.

Basing his judgment on James’ achievements by 2014, Johnson provided MJ with an edge. However, the 5x champion candidly admired the former’s capabilities, backing him to catch up with the latter by the end of his career. Expressing his thoughts on Dan Patrick Show, the 64-year-old declared,

“He [James] has a couple of championships now. Michael has six. So, he has got still a long way to go to catch Michael Jordan. But it could be done. If anybody could do it, he could probably end up doing it.”

James was fighting an uphill battle against MJ back then. Despite winning back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, the Akron-born failed to sustain his winning momentum. This tilted the odds against him, turning the debate heavily in Jordan’s favor.

However, slowly but surely, the tables started to turn. James stacked up two more championships alongside numerous accolades in the following years. In February 2023, for instance, he became the league’s all-time leading scorer, cementing his place in the NBA’s Mount Rushmore.

Yet, ‘The Buck’ remained unfazed. He continued giving Jordan the upper hand in this debate while appreciating James’ contributions to the game. Outlining his viewpoint during his last year’s appearance on the show, the 12x All-Star stated,

“We have to celebrate both guys… I always say he [Michael] is special, and he is the best to me because he never lost in the NBA Finals… but LeBron is special in his own right and people shouldn’t forget that either.”

This highlighted one aspect of the entire argument. Johnson judged both the NBA greats based on his preset parameters. Much to Jordan’s delight, he came out on top in those, earning the faith of his contemporary.

However, the debate remains open to interpretation, raising fan interest in the talks.