Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson has ignited a debate among basketball fans by excluding Michael Jordan from his personal top-five NBA players of all time. Thompson revealed his list during a live stream with streamer PlayqueBoyMax, opting for Kobe Bryant at the shooting guard position over Jordan.
Thompson's selection included Shaquille O'Neal at center, Tim Duncan and LeBron James as forwards, Bryant at shooting guard, and his teammate Stephen Curry at point guard. When explaining his choice of Bryant over Jordan, Thompson cited his personal connection to the era.
"I gotta go with Kobe at the two," Thompson stated. "I love Mike, but I just grew up watching Kobe. I got to play against him. 81 [point game,] twelve threes, you know, gold medals. God, I love MJ, but Kobe is like a carbon copy of Mike. Imma go, Kobe just cause that’s my era."
Thompson defended his choice of Curry as point guard by saying he is "loyal to my PG of the past."
Following the live stream, Thompson's list quickly drew widespread attention and mixed reactions on social media. Posts detailing his top five garnered hundreds of thousands of views, with many users expressing surprise and disagreement over Jordan's exclusion. Some comments questioned the decision, while others debated the merits of Thompson's choices.
One user on X, formerly Twitter, commented, "'Stayed loyal to steph' no he just has common sense and knows steph is the greatest player ever at the position and it’s not relatively close." Another user wrote, "NO JORDAN FOR A REASON…DUDE A– FR…"
Michael Jordan is frequently central to discussions about the greatest basketball player of all time, often alongside LeBron James. While both are typically considered locks for any all-time top-five list, Thompson's decision to omit Jordan has become a focal point of online discourse.