Michael Jordan is regarded by many as the GOAT – but the man himself would not put two legendary names above him in the greatest of all time debate.

Retired Jordan is a six-time NBA Champion following a legendary spell with the Chicago Bulls and as well as winning six NBA titles, he was crowned the MVP in the NBA Finals a total of six times.

He was also named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player overall on five instances after playing for the Bulls and the Washington Wizards in a remarkable career on the basketball court where he cemented his status as a worthy holder of the GOAT title.

Jordan transcended the sport thanks to him developing a partnership with Nike on his Air Jordan trainers, which has become one of the most recognisable sneaker brands in the world.

He also turned his attentions to the big screen in the 1996 film Space Jam and was the focus of Emmy-winning documentary series The Last Dance in 2020, which appeared on internet streaming service Netflix.

There is always a debate as to who is the GOAT on the basketball court, whether that be Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and others who have lit up the sport.

But when two names were put to him, Jordan refused to put himself above the duo and instead put himself on a par with them.

And those two players are Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, whom Jordan rubbed shoulders with during his career.

Bird was a three time NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics, while Johnson was crowned NBA Champion five times with the LA Lakers in an illustrious career.

When asked by SLAM where he puts himself with Bird and Johnson, Jordan said: “I don’t put myself above them. I think that we’re all on parallel ground here.

“You know, they educated me about a lot of things about the game, from a team standpoint. So I can’t put myself above…I mean, people try to, but we played in different eras.

“I had an opportunity to go against them, in the peak of their careers, while I was still young. And I went against them, when I was at the peak of mine, when they was on the other end.

“So it was a passing of trends there, and we never had the opportunity to play against each other in peak years. You know, so it’s hard to say that I’m above them, by no means. I like to consider myself parallel to them.”