Jordan the G.O.A.T for today's stars

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, according to a survey of NBA players published by The Athletic on Monday.

The sports news website polled 127 NBA players between March 16 and April 1 for its inaugural anonymous survey, asking subjects a range of questions about the sport.

On the question of which player deserved to be recognized as the greatest in history, the verdict of the 122 players who answered the question was unanimous.

According to the survey, 73 percent believe six-time NBA champion Jordan is the greatest player the sport has seen. LeBron James came second with 11.9 percent of votes, ahead of Kobe Bryant with 10.6 percent.

The poll also revealed that Houston Rockets star James Harden is most players' pick to win this season's MVP honors.

Harden, the 2017-18 MVP, was chosen by 44.3 percent of respondents, with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo just behind with 38.9 percent. OKC Thunder's Paul George was third with 12.7 percent.

Antetokounmpo was the clear favorite to build a team around.

The towering Greek was chosen by 36.4 percent of players asked who they would sign first if they were building a roster from scratch.

New Orleans Pelicans ace Anthony Davis was second with 10.4 percent of votes while Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (8.8%) was third.

Agence France-Presse