Michael Porter Jr.: I believe Nikola Jokic is the greatest player in history, with LeBron, Jordan, and Kobe also in the conversation.

On September 1st Beijing time, in the debate over the NBA's Greatest of All Time (GOAT), the most common answers are Michael Jordan and LeBron James. However, former Denver Nuggets player Michael Porter Jr. holds a different view. In a recent livestream, when asked who he considers the NBA's greatest player ever, Porter Jr. backed Nikola Jokic.

“I would pick Nikola Jokic,” Porter Jr. said. “The reason I say that is because he had the chance to win the regular season MVP five years in a row. Can you name any other player who had the opportunity to win MVP consecutively for five years? Basically none... I didn’t get to witness Michael Jordan play day in and day out, but I get to see Jokic perform every game, every day... From my perspective, I choose him.”

Porter Jr. went on to add that three other stars are also part of the GOAT conversation. “Obviously, LeBron, Jordan, those guys are in that group, and Kobe is too.”

Up to the 2024-25 season, Porter Jr. spent his entire NBA career with the Nuggets. However, during this offseason, Denver traded him to the Brooklyn Nets. Porter Jr. is ready for the next chapter in his career but might miss playing alongside Jokic — clearly, he holds great respect for the three-time MVP.

In reality, the core of the NBA GOAT debate usually revolves around Jordan and LeBron, with Kobe likely ranking third. These three are often regarded as the greatest players in NBA history. However, Jokic is poised to join this conversation in the future. It’s important to note that he is only 30 years old but already has three MVP trophies and seven All-Star selections.

As Porter mentioned, Jokic certainly has strong grounds to be considered capable of competing for MVP five years straight. After winning MVP in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons consecutively, Joel Embiid took the award in 2022-23 with Jokic finishing second; Jokic reclaimed MVP in 2023-24, but last season, Alexander won the honor with Jokic again finishing runner-up.

Finishing in the top two of MVP voting for five straight seasons is already impressive, and winning the MVP three times during that span is remarkable. Currently, Jokic shows no signs of decline, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he wins MVP again in the next year or two. However, Porter might have overlooked that LeBron won the regular season MVP four times in five years and ranked third in MVP voting in another season.

Of course, to cement his place in the NBA GOAT discussion, Jokic will need to win several more championships. So far, his career accolades include only one NBA title.