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Snoop Dogg on why the GOAT debate between MJ and LeBron isn’t that simple: “They never played against the same competition” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

It’s the debate that will rage on forever — LeBron James or Michael Jordan. Every fan, analyst, player, and even casual NBA observer on the street has given their say on the GOAT debate between the two titans. It dominates sports radio, is discussed on every National sports TV station and is written about to death by the mainstream media.

It’s a conversation that will have no end. It will never run out of legs. It will always provide a barbershop stir or spirited war of words at the family dinner.

So, knowing that it isn’t going away anytime soon, we might as well embrace the discourse. There used to be a time when opinions from players, experienced NBA personalities and long-time fans who had the opportunity to witness both players earned the most respect. Still, now everyone from movie celebrities to rappers weighs in on the debate and expects it to hold weight in the conversation.

The latest name to throw their opinion into the ever-growing constellation of GOAT talk is American rapper and music producer Snoop Dogg, who believes both players have their respective arguments for the crown.

Valid points

Respectfully, Snoop isn’t an individual you’d think would have an elegantly thought-out opinion on the GOAT debate, but there’s a reason why the saying goes, “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

Little do people know, the multi-platinum rapper is a devoted Los Angeles Lakers fan who has been following the league since the 1980s while growing up in Long Beach, California. Naturally, now at 53 years old, this has given him a long-standing sample size on which to judge who is the greatest player to grace the Association.

To his credit, Snoop took a sensible approach when comparing the two all-timers. It’s never an easy feat, but Snoop acknowledged they never had the opportunity to compete against each other, and made sure he celebrated the unprecedented feats both were able to achieve.

“That is hard to say because they never played in the same era and never played against the same competition,” he said. “If you look at what Jordan did, he played in an era where basketball was really hard and aggressive, and it wasn’t a lot of fouls called, and he had to grow up against the beast in the east and the west. The competition was a bit more aggressive, so you gotta give him respect for winning six, getting six MVPs and doing it in a time that was unheard of.”

“When you think about LeBron James and he going to three organizations, mainly organizations that were terrible and weren’t probably going to the playoffs, and then, after going to the finals and winning the finals in a two-year period, is amazing. Doing it from the standpoint of being the head force of getting them there and winning it and being a driving force on offense and defense,” he added.

Close but no cigar

Truth be told, not many NBA personalities take the time to see both sides of the argument, let alone a rapper. Comparing completely different eras is challenging enough, let alone trying to pit superstars against each other who couldn’t even share the floor together.

The LBJ versus MJ debate is incredibly tired, and the NBA community has repeatedly beaten it to death. In what feels like a basketball civil war, sitting on the fence and refusing to choose one over the other goes against the grain of the masses.

Snoop deserves a great deal of credit for doing so. He could have been tied to his generational bias. He could have been blinded by watching Mike win more titles, but he didn’t.

Equally, he could have sided with James, given he now dons the Purple and Gold he loves so dearly. He could have let the championship he won in 2020 be the deciding factor, but he didn’t either.

In saying all of that, not choosing either doesn’t necessarily mean you get to choose someone else. Bron and MJ are universally regarded as the two greatest players to ever live, and venturing outside of that consensus is a dangerous game. Snoop was so close to reversing his reputation as a casual fan among people who didn’t know his background.

It may have been premature to claim he wasn’t tied to generational bias or his love for the Los Angeles Lakers, because he went on to say Magic Johnson was the greatest ever in his eyes.

“They are both GOAT’s in their own rights, but for me, Magic Johnson was always higher than Michael Jordan because I’m a Laker, and I saw what Magic did when he first came to the league. Jordan was good in his rookie season, but he wasn’t that good,” he claimed.

The rookie comment may be true, but you’d be hard pressed to find someone who puts Magic over Jordan in their all-time rankings. Hell, even Magic himself doesn’t do so.

Related: LeBron James learned from his “not six, not seven” press conference when he returned to Cleveland: “It won’t be easy”

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 27, 2025, where it first appeared.