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MJ not Malone's pick for all-time best

Michael Jordan may be widely considered the NBA’s all-time greatest player, but he’s not the pick of one of his former “Dream Team” Olympic teammates.

Karl Malone told the Waddle and Silvy show Wednesday on ESPN 1000 that his No. 1 is a legendary big man.

“I’m a big guy. I’d be hard-pressed to not give a big guy the nod,” Malone said. “I’d have to say Wilt Chamberlain was my all-time greatest ever player.”

Malone, who certainly knows Jordan’s capabilities, winning a gold medal with him in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and losing two NBA Finals against him in 1997 and 1998, acknowledges there is room for debate.

“[Jordan is] the greatest that ever played at his position, OK, that’s what I’m going to tell you,” Malone told Waddle and Silvy. “You’ve got some Oscar Robertsons and you’ve got some Kareem Abdul-Jabbars and some Magics and all that. So you can debate [the best ever]. But as far as I’m concerned, he’s the best to play at his position. And we can all argue, ‘Well he’s the best of all time.’ I don’t know. I don’t know if he was the best of all time. If he wasn’t the best -- if he was not the best -- put him at the second best. But he was right up there.

“And you could argue he was the best. He got six rings so yeah, he could be the best. But I will say this, boy did he have an unbelievable supporting cast.”

Scottie Pippen played alongside Jordan on all six Chicago Bulls championship teams, which featured two sets of strong complementary players including Horace Grant, John Paxson and Dennis Rodman.