Jamal Crawford explains why he has MJ as the GOAT over Kobe and LeBron: "He probably played with the least amount of Hall of Famers"

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Jamal Crawford explains why he has MJ as the GOAT over Kobe and LeBron: "He probably played with the least amount of Hall of Famers" originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Former NBA player Jamal Crawford had the rare opportunity to go up against Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James throughout his 20-year career in the league.
While the three-time Sixth Man of the Year awardee may have caught MJ at the twilight of his career, Crawford still acknowledges him as the greatest over Bryant and James because he accomplished more than them with less time and help.
"To accomplish all he accomplished with the least amount of help, out of everybody who played, he probably played with the least amount of Hall of Famers and he won three, so I'm going to play a different sport. Go play baseball and come back a year and a half after and win another," said Crawford in his appearance on "Eye of the Game."
Without MJ, there would be no Kobe and LBJ
Crawford clarified that even if he thinks Jordan is the GOAT, that doesn't make the Black Mamba and King James less of a player.
After all, he knows that not everyone is as lucky as he is to not only witness three all-time great careers unfold but also step foot on the same court as them. However, Crawford also wants to remind the public that without Jordan, both Bryant and James wouldn't have been the same players that they eventually turned out to be.
"Michael Jordan's so great that he helped give us some other greats like Kobe and LeBron. They all admitted that they looked up to him. Michael's so great that somebody is so great at their stuff; people say he's the Michael Jordan of this. But everybody has a case. I get it, especially if I'm born now, I'll say LeBron. If I was born before, I'd say Kobe," said Crawford.
Both Bryant and James indeed looked up to Jordan, whom they said they patterned their games after. While these two Los Angeles Lakers legends did meet MJ's standard of play, they didn't surpass his greatest accomplishment, which is winning six NBA titles. Crawford also argued that the Chicago Bulls legend wasn't part of any superteams, contrary to two legends who came after him and were the main superstar in all of the championship teams he was part of.Michael never had down moments
While failure is part of every successful athlete's career, Crawford also added that one case Jordan can make is that he had less of it compared to LeBron and Kobe.
Losing to the Boston Celtics and Detroit "Bad Boy" Pistons were some of the notable ones, but Mike did more than enough winning after to compensate for that, which is why his career is associated with winning rather than "what-ifs."
"Michael, he never let you down. The highest moments, he never let you down and he played both ends and he was going to find a way. Like, even if we talk about the '98 team, he won. At "The Last Dance," as we saw it, he was 35. He was 35. They still won 60 games and won a championship. He's just a machine and it's not a knock on anybody else because I think Kobe is that for some and LeBron is but that dude is just, Dame [Lillard] said it, 75 when all the greats were there and he walked in, it was something different," Jamal concluded.
Crawford didn't mean to tear Bryant and James' own accomplishments and career trajectory but rather point out that for as successful as they were, none have overtaken Jordan — who is considered the consensus GOAT for a reason.This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.