Who would have imagined that there would be a day when Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson would say that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is a better basketball player than NBA icon Michael Jordan.

But that's exactly what happened when The Answer sat down with celebrated sportswriter Marc J. Spears, much to the surprise of many.

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“LeBron,” Iverson starts, “is the best overall basketball player that we will ever see in life. Like we will never see… Like if you look in the dictionary, you could look up ‘basketball player' and it would be a picture of LeBron.”

However, while Iverson acknowledges that James is a prototypical NBA player, he also admits that there's a sentimental factor in why he wouldn't want to say anyone besides MJ is the best player ever.

“Mike was everything to me,” Iverson tells Spears. “He gave me vision. He made me want to play basketball. He’s my everything. Like I wanted to actually be like him… I’m still star-stuck every time I see him…He’s Mike to me. He’s, my guy. So, there will never be no one at the top of my list besides Mike.”

“But LeBron is just everything you want in a basketball player,” he concedes.

Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James is a debate that will stand the test of time, with both players having a legitimate case for staking their claim as the greatest basketball player of all-time. However, just as Iverson says explicitly, those GOAT debates often venture into nostalgia and sentimentality.

Nonetheless, with many of LeBron's contemporaries coming forward to acknowledge him as the GOAT in recent days, it does seem as if James has finally edged out Jordan.