Michael Jordan argues there’s “no such thing as a GOAT,” again driving home his view that all greats are instead part of a larger shared legacy.
In a new interview with Gayle King for CBS News Sunday Morning, Jordan, who these days is enjoying the highest echelon of NASCAR success as a co-owner of the 23XI Racing team, was asked if there’s “room for more than one GOAT” in the sport of basketball. As Jordan sees it, despite himself still being considered by many fans to be the best to ever do it, the GOAT conversation is a nonstarter.
“There's no such thing as a GOAT,” the Bulls legend said. “Not to me. It's only because I think we learn from other athletes. We progress the game. To say that one is better than the other is not really right.”
This is in line with remarks Jordan made on the topic in a segment for NBC’s Insights to Excellence earlier this month. As he explained, the never-ending GOAT debate, in his opinion, leads to “animosity” among players and fans.
“I would love to have played against LeBron and Kobe in my prime,’ he said at the time, as seen here. “I would love to have played against those guys but we’ll never be able to know that. Part of the marketing, part of the hype, part of the things that tries to elevate one generation above the other—I think it creates animosity.”
Elsewhere in the new Gayle King interview, Jordan asserted that he remains “a very competitive person” in all aspects of his life, even when it comes to seemingly mundane tasks like getting dressed in the morning.
“I think I’m cursed,” he said. “I’m cursed with this competitive gene.”
