Ray Allen is a two-time NBA champion and Hall of Fame player who squared off against Michael Jordan early in his career and won a ring alongside LeBron James late in his professional tenure after battling James as a member of the Boston Celtics for years.
As such, Allen has a unique perspective on the greatest of all time (GOAT) debate when it comes to James and Jordan -- the two players around whom that argument is most frequently framed and focused.
Allen gave his definitive opinion on who is, in fact, the greatest basketball player ever during a recent interview with Dan Patrick.
"I think [James] certainly, just off the cuff, he's certainly [in] the top five of all time. But playing against him and MJ, I think for me it's MJ all day long," Allen said. "MJ just had everything, from mid-range to 3-point to post-up game, and he could score and dominate in each position."
Allen went on to say that James is also dominant offensively, though Patrick cut him off and reframed the question, asking if James is a "better all-around player" than Jordan was.
"That's hard to say because you know LeBron is probably one of the best passers that the league has seen. MJ, that's probably the weakest part of his game," Allen continued. "At the same time, MJ didn't have any other weaknesses in his game. And defensively -- he was a two-way player -- defensively he was incredible and just as dominant."
James' longevity has allowed him to surpass Jordan in essentially every meaningful statistical category in both the regular season and the postseason. James will enter his 23rd year in 2025-26 should he decide to return to the league. Meanwhile, Jordan played a total of 15 seasons.
As far as championships go, Jordan played in six NBA Finals with the Chicago Bulls and won all of them. James has appeared in the NBA Finals on 10 occasions with the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, and has captured four championship rings.
Jordan won five MVPs during his career, while James has won that honor four times. Strong arguments can be made that each man should have won more MVP trophies than he did based on the subjective nature of the award voting system.
James earned Second-Team All-NBA honors over the weekend at the age of 40.