Only one man can wear the crown, and King James seems to think the hierarchy is set in stone.
LeBron James, in an interview with TIME as part of the magazine’s ranking of the most influential people in sports in 2026, gave his take on the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate and made it clear that, to him, there is no debate.
“I’m not taking nobody over me,” James said to writer Sean Gregory. “There’s no question. But I think Mike (Michael Jordan) will say the same thing. Rest his soul, Kobe will say the same thing. Magic will say the same thing. Bird will say the same thing. Shaq could say the same thing. The late great Wilt. Kareem. I don’t think none of us are going to take somebody else.
“If there’s a general manager and he’s eyeballing all of us on a baseline, with the No. 1 pick, it’s gonna be hard not to take me, champ.”
The 41-year-old has an excellent case, as he holds the NBA’s scoring record with 43,400 points over his 23 seasons in the NBA — also an NBA record.
Along with his unmatched longevity, James has four NBA titles with three teams — the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 — and had eight consecutive Finals appearances throughout the 2010s, but lost in five of them.
That last point, the losses, remains a big sticking point in the GOAT conversation throughout basketball circles, as Michael Jordan — his main competition — is able to comfortably rest on the laurels of his six championships and two three-peats through the 90s.
Beyond just basketball greatness, the topic of influence is a sticking point between the two irrefutable NBA legends. And LeBron understands where people are coming from when they may argue ‘Air Jordan’ has the edge there.
“You ask somebody that grew up in the Jordan era, they’re gonna say Jordan,” James said when the topic was brought up. “You ask somebody who grew up in the LeBron era … they’re still gonna say Jordan.”
But that doesn’t change James’ thinking.
“Listen, to each his own,” James said. “I can tell you this. I never step my feet in another man’s shoes, saying, ‘OK, well, (expletive), I got to do better than him.’ My journey is my journey. I do what I do. I know what I’ve brought to the table.
“From a basketball standpoint, an inspiring standpoint, an influential standpoint, I know I can walk in any room.”
When it comes to stats, James’ legacy is unmatched. After breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record on Feb. 7, 2023, he’s added 5,052 points to the overall tally, and he passed Hall-of-Famer Robert Parish in games played this past season with his 1,612th career regular-season game.
Whatever happens from this point forward is icing on the cake, and it remains to be seen just how high James can take those records, as he’s yet to provide clarity as to when that eventual retirement might come.
“It’s up to the mind,” James said. “Where the mind goes, the body will lay. When I’m not in love with getting to the arenas on game days five hours before to start my preparation, if I’m out of love with getting to practice 2 1/2 hours beforehand, then I know I’ll be done. Because then I’m going to start cheating the game.”