Will Smith got candid about who he considers the GOAT NBA player, and the answer wasn’t Michael Jordan or LeBron James.

In the world of basketball, the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and former professional basketball player Michael Jordan are easily considered two of the biggest names to have ever played for the National Basketball Association.

However, Hollywood actor Will Smith seems to have a different final name on his list of GOAT NBA players.
LeBron James. | Credit: Erik Drost/Wikimedia Commons.
Although he holds both James and Jordon in high regard for how tremendously these two professionals contributed and continue to contribute to the sport, Smith actually tends to differ in his respective opinion on who the Greatest Of All Time basketball player is.

And his response is one that might displease both James and Jordan’s die-hard fans.

LeBron James and Michael Jordan Aren’t the GOATs in Will Smith’s Eyes

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence recently had their latest film in the Bad Boys saga released, Bad Boys: Ride or Die. In light of the same, the duo appeared in a GOAT Talk episode of Complex to play the game where they had to share who they consider to be the best in different fields.
Smith and Lawrence in Bad Boys: Ride or Die. | Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.
During the same, one question popped up asking which basketball player intrigued them so much that they would title them the GOAT. And Hollywood mastermind Will Smith‘s answer to this wasn’t something that many basketball fans would have expected.

Sharing who he considers the most supreme, Smith said (via Complex on YouTube):

Okay, so you got a Greatest Of All Time. I think there has to be avenues. Like, for me, the GOAT basketball player, like, for my life, is Julius Erving.

Will Smith in a still from the Bad Boys saga. | Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Okay, that must have come as a surprise to all the LeBron James and Jordan fans out there. But as much as these fans won’t like Smith’s response, there is a pretty valid reason in the Suicide Squad actor’s eyes about why he holds Julius Erving in such high regard.

As the 55-year-old actor cum rapper cum film producer continued to explain the reason behind considering Erving the Greatest Of All Time:

Julius Erving [is] like, the Basketball player that changed my life.

Julius Erving. | Credit: Ash Carter/Wikimedia Commons.
Well, Erving most certainly left behind a legacy that not many could keep up to, considering how he is even credited with moves like his finger-roll behind the backboard baseline move during the 1980 NBA Finals or his “Rock the Baby” slam dunk over Michael Cooper in 1983 against the LA Lakers.

That said, Smith’s choice is understandable as well, as even Lawrence went on to admit how Erving is “not a bad person to pick, no, no.” At the same time, when it comes to Martin Lawrence’s favorite basketball player, the answer was an easy win for all those Michael Jordan fans out there.

Meanwhile, Michael Jordan is an Easy Win for Martin Lawrence

Martin Lawrence in a still from Ride or Die. | Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.
During the same episode, Lawrence also expressed the one player he considers to be the GOAT in his eyes. Speaking out what might have been the easiest answer for him as soon as Smith asked the question, the Big Momma’s House star said:

Oh, Michael Jordan.

That’s not all, for his co-star tried his best to make Lawrence reconsider his decision by asking, “So, you don’t put no Kobe [Bryant] in there, no LeBron [James] in there, nothing?”

However, the actor’s response was still a hard “no” followed by a “just Jordan,” showing just how much adoration and tremendous respect he held for the former basketball player that he wouldn’t even consider other players in front of him.
Michael Jordan. | Credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo/Wikimedia Commons.
The reason behind this was simple: He just couldn’t get over how legendary of a player Jordan was. As Lawrence continued to explain without even flinching or stopping to consider:

Because everytime he go to the championship, he got the ring.

Well, for whatever it’s worth, we guess all those Jordan fans (and even Jordan himself) must be happy for just how unflinchingly and with utmost certainty Martin Lawrence established the former professional basketball champion for being the sheer legend that he is.