Devonte Graham jokes he no longer considers Michael Jordan the GOAT after the ex-Hornets owner offloaded him to New Orleans in 2021: ‘Once I got traded, it became LeBron’

San Antonio Spurs star Devonte’Graham joked that he no longer considers Michael Jordan the GOAT in basketball after the ex-Hornets owner traded him to New Orleans in 2021.

Graham switched his allegiance to LeBron James after becoming a Pelican, with the team that drafted him dealing him as part of a three-team trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Graham’s quote was: HoopsHypeof The Athletics In recent days, current NBA stars have also been asked who their GOAT is.

Of the 142 players surveyed by The Athletic, Jordan was still the leading GOAT with 45.9 percent of the vote. LeBron finished just behind at 42.1 percent, less than a four percent difference.

That’s a big difference from the same poll last year, when Jordan won with 25.3 percent. In 2019, Jordan had a commanding lead of 61.1 percentage points.

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“I played for the GOAT, Michael Jordan. He paid me. When I played there he was definitely the GOAT. Once I got traded, it became LeBron,” Graham told HoopsHype.

The late Kobe Bryant finished third and was the only other player to receive more than one percent of the vote, at 9.8 percent. Tied for fourth were Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson and Paul Pierce, each with 0.8 percent of the vote, according to The Athletic.

The HoopsHype poll shows Jordan had a bigger lead at 49 percent, compared to James’ 37 percent. Bryant remains in third place with nine percent.

The race for fourth place was much more competitive on HoopsHype, with five players tied.

Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Larry Bird, Dwayne Wade and Bill Russell all received about one percent of the vote.