Recently, the American media organized more than 100 players who have played in the NBA and are still serving to choose their favorite GOAT players according to the usual practice, and the current super player LeBron James has only one-sixth of the votes of the first place. Such a result can only be said to be both expected by fans and unexpected by many, after all, James's influence is not as good as it was at its peak. However, such a vote has happened twice last year and in 2019, and the further you go, the more different the results become. Today, the author will take you to analyze why the change in the votes of each player on the leaderboard is such a trend.
In 2019, the GOAT rankings in the minds of players:
1. Michael Jordan 45.9%, 2. LeBron James 42.1%, 3. Kobe Bryant 9.8%, 4. Stephen Curry 0.8%, 5. Elvin Johnson 0.8%
Regarding this year's GOAT list selection, Michael Jordan, who ranked first, deserves his name, after all, his 15-year career except for the last two years of his comeback with the Wizards for business activities, all of his 13-year NBA career led the team to the playoffs, and twice led the team to establish a three-game championship dynasty, and can average 33.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game in the playoffs that can be called a meat grinder.
Second-place LeBron S. In 16 years, he just led the 45-year Cavaliers without a championship to complete a 1-3 shocking reversal to win the championship, and his reputation was shocked; in 18 years, he led the old, weak and sick Cavaliers to the finals with his own strength, and he averaged 34 points, 9.1 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 block per game in the playoffsIt makes sense that the GOAT has only 3% less than Jordan's vote.
As for why the third-ranked Kobe Bryant was able to get 9.8% of the votes, it is likely that because since the new century, he is the player closest to Michael Jordan in terms of ball skills and honors, and he can also get 30.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in the playoffs at his peak 30+5+5 data, plus he has just retired a few years ago, and his status in the hearts of players is okay, so it is not too unexpected by fans. Stephen Curry and Elvin Johnson, who finished fourth and fifth, were pure fans of both of the players, with only 0.8 percent of the vote. Even if the influence of these two people is indeed not bad, it is indeed a little difficult to compete for the GOAT.
In 2023, the GOAT rankings in the minds of players:
1. Michael Jordan 58.3%, 2. LeBron James 33%, 3. Kobe Bryant 6.8%
After 4 years, the GOAT ranking in the hearts of players has not been shaken, it is still Jordan, James and Kobe Bryant occupy the top three, but it is obvious that there are some changes in the vote rate of the players, for example, James's vote rate has been much lower than Jordan. This is most likely because LeBron James is now approaching his twilight years, although he still led the team to the playoffs, but he only averaged 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in the playoffs, which is not as good as Anthony Davis, another star of the team, and then has less influence in the hearts of players.
There is also the fact that James has frequently claimed GOAT on social media since 18 years later, which has gradually reduced his reputation, especially when he is about to surpass Abdul-Jabbar to become the first in history, he is interviewed and claims to be GOAT, which directly affects the players' evaluation of him, so compared to 2019, it is not particularly strange that James will get 20% less votes than Jordan in 2023. As for why Kobe Bryant, who ranked third, also got a lower percentage of votes, it is probably related to James' switch to the Lakers, winning another championship in the 2020 shortened season and the unfortunate plane crash in 2020.
In 2024, the GOAT ranking in the minds of players:
1. Michael Jordan 73%, 2. LeBron James 11.9%, 3. Kobe Bryant 10.6%
This year, although the top three players in the GOAT rankings are still Jordan, James and Kobe, a discerning person can see at a glance that Jordan's vote rate is a cliff-like lead, and James, who was much higher than Kobe Bryant, was almost overtaken by Kobe. As for why, it may be due to James' excessive marketing of himself as a GOAT, such as celebrating with a crown in the void in the game, coupled with this year's poor state, he can only average 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in the regular season, leading the team to seventh in the West, and is eaten up by such a reputation.
In addition, it is also possible that this year's Lakers have made more free throws than before, and the time when the free throws increased was after James knelt down for something, so James's reputation has become very bad in the minds of active players. Based on these two points, compared to Michael Jordan, whose honors and statistics are extremely solid, James's GOAT vote rate this year has naturally become very low, only about the same as that of the late Kobe.