Reggie Miller Fires Back at Gail Goodrich: “Wilt Chamberlain Isn’t the GOAT – Michael Jordan Is the Greatest Ever”
Reggie Miller has never been one to back down from a debate, and his latest comments prove that once again. After NBA legend Gail Goodrich recently called out Miller for ranking Wilt Chamberlain as the greatest player of all time, Miller responded with sharp words, challenging the generational biases that often cloud the GOAT conversation.
In a recent interview, Goodrich, Chamberlain’s former Lakers teammate, expressed his disappointment that Miller seemed to push back against Wilt’s claim as the greatest to ever play the game. Goodrich argued that Chamberlain’s sheer dominance, statistical records, and impact on the sport made him unquestionably the best.
But Miller wasn’t having it.
Miller addressed the criticism head-on, saying, “It’s no surprise that a lot of the older players from the ’60s and ’70s always point to Wilt as the GOAT. That’s their era. They believe no one from the modern game could possibly be better than the legends they grew up watching or played alongside.”
Miller went further, suggesting that this loyalty to their era often blinds many former players from acknowledging the greatness of those who came after. “Look, Wilt Chamberlain was an unstoppable force, no one’s denying that. But when we’re talking about the greatest player ever, it’s not just about stats or dominance in a smaller league. It’s about the complete package—impact, winning, longevity, competition, and the way the game evolved.”
For Miller, the answer is simple: Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history.
“Michael Jordan changed everything,” Miller emphasized. “He played against the best of the best, won six championships, went 6-0 in the Finals, and did it with a killer mentality that no one could match. He’s the standard. No player shaped basketball, culture, and global sports the way MJ did. That’s the truth.”
Miller also pointed out that while older generations often lean toward their contemporaries, the game has evolved, and with it, the level of competition. “The league was smaller in Wilt’s time, the pace was different, and the athleticism across the board wasn’t what it is now. You have to factor that in.”
This isn’t the first time Miller has taken a stance that ruffled feathers among the NBA’s elder statesmen, and it likely won’t be the last. His response highlights a growing divide in GOAT debates between those who favor the pioneers of the game and those who emphasize the evolution and modern dominance of players like Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and others.
While Gail Goodrich and many from Wilt’s era will continue to passionately defend Chamberlain’s place atop the basketball hierarchy, Reggie Miller’s words represent the perspective of a newer generation that saw firsthand the unmatched brilliance of Michael Jordan.
In the end, the GOAT debate rages on, and as Miller made clear, “Respect the past, but let’s not be prisoners of it.”
