Thomas backs LeBron James as the greatest of all time! He mocks Jordan: He just released a few sneaker models for you.

On January 9th Beijing time, Basketball Hall of Famer "The Smile Assassin" Isiah Thomas once again reignited the rivalry with legendary player Michael Jordan. While guesting on the program "Tracing the Roots," Thomas was questioned about the NBA golden era controversy, and he seized the moment to state plainly that LeBron James is the greatest player in history who has outdone Jordan.

"I just don’t get what your generation of fans is thinking. You might have witnessed the greatest player ever, but frankly, you treat him like he means nothing," Thomas said. "Instead of honoring your own era, you look back and say our time was the peak. People always say ‘Michael Jordan is the greatest, no one can top him,’ right? But then look at your era—LeBron James holds every record in basketball—I mean every single one. You’ve also seen the greatness of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, yet when it comes to the GOAT, you only recognize the guy who gave you a few sneaker releases."

The debate over the greatest of all time will never be settled because people from different eras form very different emotional connections to players. Even Michelle Beadle, host of "Tracing the Roots," admitted to Thomas that she still picks Jordan over James because "Michael Jordan is the reason I fell in love with basketball, and I’m not ready to change that."

Thomas later clarified that he is not a hater; his choice of LeBron as the GOAT is purely based on statistics. The Los Angeles Lakers star is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and Thomas pointed out that Jordan "doesn’t top any statistical category in basketball."

Convincing fans who grew up in the Jordan era to switch allegiance to LeBron is no easy task, but Thomas has clearly stated where he stands in this debate.