For as long as professional sports have existed, there have always been debates about who the best player is in their respective sport. When it comes to football, there are simply too many positions and factors to really determine who the true GOAT is. As far as basketball is concerned though, the parameters are a lot more clear cut. These days, basketball fans seem obsessed with pitting Michael Jordan and LeBron James together when discussing who the best basketball player of all-time is. Most sane people would say Jordan, although there are always plenty of LeBron stans that will pull out some advanced stats to try and school you.
Well, this past month, Business Insider and SurveyMonkey teamed up to poll Americans on who they thought the GOAT was. Initially, 1000 people were asked to discuss their basketball viewing habits. From there, 750 people were able to give a definitive answer on who they thought was the best to ever do it. While 750 people is a low sample size, the results were pretty telling.
Image via Business Insider
As you can see, two-thirds of respondents declared MJ as the GOAT, while just over 10 per cent gave the title to LeBron. Other players such as Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, and Magic Johnson received very few votes but were still a part of the conversation.
While this latest survey doesn't settle the debate, it definitely goes to show that the race between MJ and LBJ isn't as close as some like to believe.
