Scottie Pippen gives controversial take when asked to settle Michael Jordan vs LeBron James GOAT debate

NBA legend Scottie Pippen has given his opinion on who should be considered the greatest basketball player of all time, and it's not who you might think.

The NBA GOAT debate usually centres around two players – Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Arguably the most iconic sportsman of the 1990s, Jordan won six NBA titles and five MVP awards during his glittering career.

James – who's still going strong in the NBA at age 40 – has won four titles and four MVPs, while also becoming the highest scorer in the league's history.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in action for the Chicago Bulls. Image: Getty

Pippen was Jordan's teammate on the Chicago Bulls for all six of his championship triumphs. But the former seven-time All-Star rarely shies away from a controversial comment. And when asked who should be considered the GOAT between Jordan and James, he made the case for someone else entirely.

"Michael bunched up all of his competitiveness and sort of exposed it out to the world within 12 to 14 years," Pippen said on the PBD podcast. "We saw his whole resume, his competitiveness, his drive, his will to win, what he's want to do."

"When someone like LeBron has to spread that out for 20 plus years it's not the same drive, it's not the same fight, it's not the same hunger and so when people try to make those comparisons of those two players, it's like talking to someone in the front seat in the back seat they ain't even in the same lane.

"When you ask who's better, LeBron or Michael, you can't ask me who's the GOAT between LeBron and Michael. Neither one of them are GOATs they both won differently, you can't put them at the pinnacle.

"Magic Johnson to me is a bigger GOAT than anybody because of how he lead, how he brought a whole team, how when the greatest scorer in the game, Kareem, was not there and him as a rookie, steps in and plays a position that no one even knew he could play that's transcending what you can do as a player."

A revolutionary 6ft 9ins point guard who spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers over three spells, Johnson won five titles and three MVPs. He is regarded as one of the best passers of all time and is credited with rejuvenating the NBA in the 1980s thanks to his rivalry with Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.