COOPER: The current GOAT is definitely LeBron, but my GOAT chose Abdul-Jabbar

Former Lakers player Michael Cooper was recently interviewed about the selection of the greatest goat in history.

Cooper has been teammates with Lakers and Magic Johnson and Karim Abdul-Jabbar during the "showtime" era, and has also played against Michael Jordan.

Asked if Lakers forward LeBron James is a goat, Cooper said: "The word goat is really too broad because you have to realize that everybody plays in their own time and in their own time." If we have the ability to get everyone to 23 or 24 at the same time, then we can say so. What's happening in the NBA? LeBron may be the greatest player of all time. Bring him back to the '80s and play with Magician, Michael Jordan, George Gervin, Karim — he's probably mixed with all of them, so now the goat is definitely LeBron, but try to bring all of them together and pick out one more. You'll get different answers from 10 different people. It was also very difficult to ask me. For me, Larry Bird would be considered a goat, that guy was probably the hardest defensive player I've ever defended, and I played in an era when I had to play tough games every night.

"Dominique (Hopkins) one night. Dr. J one night. Forgotten Andrew Tony, this guy can score easily. Alvin Robertson, Marquis Johnson, Alex Inglish, Kiki van der Vic. There are very outstanding players I have to defend, so it is difficult for me to give you a definite answer about the goat. But if you want me to give you an answer, if you pick them all in a bowl, the greatest basketball player of all time, I choose Karim Abdul-Jabbar.

"The reason people forgot they banned dunks was because of this guy's game in college. He honed one of the most unstoppable shots in basketball. Neither of us could stop him when we faced the twin-tower squad of Hakim Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, who were in his 30s at the time. You can't foul. The strongest players in the game, Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, were bad free throw pitchers. Karim hits 78 to 80 percent of the free throws, so you can't foul him. If he doesn't have a passing line, people forget that at the power memorial academy, Karim is just a defender (laughs). He plays as a defender. He can bring the ball up front, so a lot of people don't know a lot about his game, they just remember that tick, but Karim has been the league blocker four or five times during his Bucks career. For me, he's my best candidate, but you know, there are too many such candidates. I love Kobe Bryant. I love LeBron. I can list a lot of players. Michael Jordan. I have a lot of respect for Larry Bird. I don't like him very much, but I respect his performance on the pitch. I'll let Karim be my goat. ”

(Editor: Yao Fan)