“Jordan Third”: Ex-Laker Takes Strong Stance on LeBron James GOAT Debate

In 2019, Kobe Bryant famously settled the GOAT debate from his own perspective on The Late Late Show. He told James Corden, "I'm the best, Michael's second-best, LeBron's third." Seven years later, Bryant's former Lakers teammate Nick Young has flipped that exact ranking on its head.

Appearing on Wednesday's episode of Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast, Young put LeBron James at the top, Kobe second, and Michael Jordan all the way down at third. First, Young didn't shy away from acknowledging his own personal bias before breaking down his actual ranking.

"For me though, I think I would say Kobe is my GOAT just 'cause I was in that era. I'm from LA. I went to the parades and all that," Young said on the podcast.

But he then set his sentiment aside, and his answer changed completely.

"But realistically, you got to say LeBron's the GOAT." Young continued. "Just because he could play one through five - Passing, scoring, rebounding - Nobody is gonna be 6'9", 260. You ain't gonna see that every day."

Young then laid out his full order, adding, "I feel like it goes LeBron, Kobe, Jordan," Young said.

When Sharpe exclaimed, "You got Jordan third!" Young said, "Yeah, I got Jordan third."

Young spent three seasons as Kobe Bryant's teammate at the Lakers during the tail end of the latter's career. And he got an up-close look at James' peak as an opponent during the 2018 NBA Finals while playing for the Golden State Warriors.

That dual perspective, having played alongside one icon and against another, is exactly what Young leaned on to justify ranking LeBron James above both.

Young isn't the only analyst to have placed Jordan third behind LeBron. Fox Sports' Nick Wright drew backlash in 2022 for ranking James No. 1 all-time, with Jordan sitting third on his list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Other athletes have landed on the complete opposite order. In 2025, Boxer Terence Crawford ranked Jordan first, Kobe second, and LeBron third, arguing that Jordan "paved the way" for both players who came after him.

In 2024, Former NBA guard Stephon Marbury went even further in his own past comments. He suggested that Jordan belonged in a category above ranking altogether, ahead of both Kobe and James.

The spread between these takes, from Jordan not even needing to be ranked to Jordan finishing dead last of the three, shows just how unsettled the debate remains even among people who played in or around the era.

Between Kobe's own self-assured ranking in 2019 and Young's complete reversal of it six years later, the GOAT conversation keeps circling back to the same three names in a different order depending on who's asked.