An evergreen question with no real answer — who is the GOAT of basketball? Aka the greatest of all time? The simple question has caused endless debates over several generations of hoop fans. Some say Michael Jordan; others, LeBron James. And then there are usually other wild answers.
The off-the-cuff nature of the question doesn't allow for any scholarly research to happen. There are no right or wrong answers, really — it all falls back on preference. Because of that, the scientific method is unusable to figure out a consensus. But that didn't stop HoopsHype.
The NBA-loving website conjured up some data on who the NBA GOAT is. The staff recorded former/active NBA players' responses to the popular query from the last four years.
Because players
in the league today grew up in the social media age, their answers are much more tangible and easier to find. Whether in a social media post, video or podcast appearance. And because retired players have ample free time, it allows them to hop on platforms and reminisce about their playing days and talk about other subjects like this.
They found 112 answers from the last four years. It shouldn't be a shocker, but Jordan and James are pretty neck and neck. James led the way with 49 votes — good enough for 43.8%. Meanwhile, Jordan had 46 votes — totaling up to 41.1%. Nine other players received shoutouts, but they all had minuscule slices of the pie.
One of those was Kevin Durant. He had two votes — which made up 1.8%. Stephen Curry also had two. Only Kobe Bryant (five votes) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (three votes) can say they had more among the non-MJ-LeBron portion of the voting results.
Interesting to see Durant get some love. Nobody really considers him in the GOAT conversation, but he's definitely penciled in as one of the 10 greatest NBA players ever. Aside from James and Curry, nobody else has defined the NBA's last two decades more than him.
I mean, just take a brief glance at Durant's stacked resume — one-time MVP winner, two-time NBA champion, 16-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA member, four scoring titles. The 37-year-old remains one of the game's top scorers as he averaged an efficient 26 points this past season. He's one of the greatest players ever and a no-brainer to make the Hall of Fame.
Of course, Durant spent his first nine seasons on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Alongside Russell Westbrook, he co-starred on the 2010s title contender. Even though they never brought home a Larry O'Brien trophy, they had one NBA Finals appearance and four Western Conference Finals trips in their time together.
Even with Durant's departure still leaving hurt feelings a decade later, there's no denying that the Thunder should be proud of seeing an all-time great play the first half of his epic career in OKC.
Per our research, over 100 NBA players have made their GOAT pick public in the last four years.
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) September 4, 2026
Neither MJ nor LeBron garnered 50 percent of the vote, but LeBron clearly leads among active players.
The tide is turning in the GOAT debate. pic.twitter.com/FJPH3xUHYy
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Where do NBA players rank Kevin Durant in GOAT conversation?
