Michael Phelps crowns Michael Jordan NBA’s all-time greatest player

The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-running debate over the league’s best player.

Over the past two decades, much of the often heated debate has centered on Michael Jordan and four-time league MVP LeBron James.

Award-winning former US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has suggested that six-time NBA champion Jordan is the clear leader in the league hierarchy.

“[No.] 23, original, original GOAT,” repliedWhen asked to choose between the Chicago Bulls legend and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar at the Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year ceremony.

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Phelps said he was inspired by Jordan’s game and applied it to swimming.

“For me, Michael Jordan was the person I always looked up to and wanted to do in swimming what he did in basketball. That is, Jordan.”

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Phelps also chose Jordan when asked to decide between Jordan and 15-time golf major Tiger Woods.

Serena Williams, who won the US Open singles title six times during her storied career, also could not exclude Jordan from Phelps’ list. “I’ll say MJ for sweeping.”

WNBA icon Diana Taurasi and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady have also been compared to Jordan and both fell short, according to Phelps.

Phelps’ name was even mentioned, but he admitted that even he wouldn’t be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Retired US swimmer Michael Phelps says six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan is the NBA’s GOAT. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

“For me, he was my childhood idol. Again, I was watching him on and off the field, what he did, how he handled it,” Phelps said. “No matter what he was going through, when he was on the field, everything was 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 how I shaped my career.”

Phelps has won 28 Olympic medals; this is the most medals of all time by a single athlete. He is widely considered the greatest Olympian in history.

In 1996, the NBA announced its Top 50 Players list, honoring the best players in league history up to that point.

The 2025-26 NBA season is in full swing, renewing the long-running debate over the league’s greatest player of all time. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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The list was recognized as the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. A quarter-century later, the league released another anniversary list called the 75th Anniversary Team, featuring legendary athletes from different eras.

It is noteworthy that the list of names is not listed in any particular order.

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