Not every legendary trio has to be close off the court to dominate on it. In fact, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen—the heart of the Bulls’ second three-peat—barely spoke outside of games. Back in 2011, Rodman opened on the dynamic during an interview with Graham Bensinger.

“I thought it was important for me to go there and win,” Rodman said, recalling his mindset when joining Chicago. But then he dropped the real bombshell: “Me and Scottie, and Michael, never had a conversation in three years in Chicago. Only time we had a conversation is on the court. That was it.”

While the chemistry on the court was undeniable, Rodman’s surprising reveal about their distant relationship left fans with more questions than answers. And now, years later, that very story is being used in one of basketball’s most heated debates: Who’s the real GOAT?

While speaking on the Common Denominator Podcast, former Lakers forward Michael Beasley was asked the ultimate question: “Who is the best?” Without hesitation, he responded, “LeBron… 100%.” And for those ready to challenge him, he made it clear, “my argument is a reasonable one.”

To back it up, Beasley didn’t just rely on the usual stats. “I’ll start it with the one everybody knows,” he said. “The points, the longevity, all that, right? With Jordan, they don’t talk about the negativities. They don’t talk about the playoff losses. They don’t talk about the fact that he actively sought out Dennis Rodman, who was already a two-time champion.”

Though he made his point, Beasley added he wasn’t out to tear MJ down—“they don’t tell the story of him.” But here’s where Beasley flips the script. “LeBron James gave us, or has given us, the opportunity to be witnesses. We watched his good, his bad. We watched his ups, his downs,” he said. “So long, and he’s been so great that we don’t have anything to say.”

However, despite Beasley’s argument, Rodman and MJ’s story has a different perspective, too.

Michael Jordan opens up on his relation with Dennis Rodman

So when we talk about Michael Jordan’s greatness, skipping Dennis Rodman’s name would be straight-up disrespect. With his unreal rebounding and defensive energy, Rodman was crucial. Honestly, if he didn’t clean the glass the way he did, Bulls might not have ended up with six shiny rings. Yet, even with all the success they had together, their bond off the court wasn’t anything to write home about.

Still, Jordan didn’t see it as cold. In a 1996 interview with the Chicago Tribune, he gave a little peek into their dynamic: “I can’t say that I truly know him well enough to be his friend,” MJ admitted. “He’s my teammate. But people who say that he and I don’t have conversations are wrong. We have lots of conversations, and they’re very friendly.”

In fact, those talks were all about basketball—no deep heart-to-hearts or life talks. And maybe that made sense. MJ came up as the chosen one, the league’s next big thing out of North Carolina in 1984. Rodman? He grinded his way up from being the 27th overall pick in 1986, straight out of New Jersey. Totally different stories. Totally different lives.

Despite their differences, they connected over their love for the game. “Frankly, they’re more about basketball than anything else because that’s the one area of common ground we share,” Jordan continued. “We both play basketball, and we both like to have a cigar. So that’s what we end up talking about.”

And over time, something shifted. “But he has opened up a lot to me during the season, which I didn’t necessarily expect, and I do like him.” Turns out, you don’t need to be best friends to build greatness. For MJ and Rodman, basketball and cigar was enough.