When it comes to the NBA greatest of all-time debate, also known as the GOAT debate, fans often have passionate opinions. The most common answers are Mchael Jordan and LeBron James. However, Michael Porter Jr. has a different answer to the question. During a recent stream, Porter was asked who he believes is the greatest NBA player of all-time, and the former Nuggets forward gave the nod to Nikola Jokic, via plaqueboymax on YouTube.
"I'm going Nikola Jokic," Porter said. "The reason I say that is because he could have won MVP five years in a row. Can you name another player that could have won MVP five years in a row? Not really... I didn't get to see Michael Jordan day in and day out. I get to see Nikola every game, every day... For me, I'm saying him."
Porter later added that Jordan, LeBron and Kobe Bryant are all in the conversation as well.
"But I would say obviously, LeBron, MJ, all them are up there. Kobe up there."
Porter played his entire NBA career with the Nuggets through the 2024-25 NBA season. This offseason, though, Denver traded MPJ to the Brooklyn Nets. Porter is ready for the next chapter of his career, but he will likely miss playing alongside Jokic. He clearly has a lot of respect for the three-time MVP.
In all reality, the GOAT conversation is probably between Jordan and LeBron, while Kobe is likely third. Those three players are often regarded as the three greatest NBA stars of all-time. However, Jokic could enter the conversation in the future. It needs to be remembered that he is still only 30 years old and is already a three-time MVP and seven-time All-Star.
As Porter mentioned, Jokic had legitimate arguments to win the MVP for five consecutive seasons. After winning the award in back-to-back seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Joel Embiid took home the honor in 2022-23 while Jokic finished second in voting. Jokic bounced back with an MVP win in 2023-24, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earned the honor this past season while the Nuggets big man finished second in voting once again.
Five consecutive top two MVP finishes is impressive. Winning the award in three of those five years is even more incredible. Jokic is not displaying any signs of slowing down, and it would not surprise anyone if he won the MVP again within the next year or two.
If Jokic wants to cement himself in the NBA GOAT conversation, however, he will need to win a couple more championships. He has one on his resume heading into the 2025-26 season.