THE GREATEST: Muhammad Ali turns 70 today.
When ESPN did their SportsCentury list of the top 100 athletes of the 20th Century, Ali came in third behind Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. I think you can make a legitimate case for six of the athletes in the top seven (which also includes Gretzky, Owens, and Thorpe), but I still think they got it wrong. (At a minimum, it shouldn't have been Jordan, who did not do to his sport's record books or overall popularity what Ruth or Gretzky did, and who carried none of the burdens of Ali, Owens, or Thorpe.)
Surprised anyone challenges the Jordan ranking nowadays. He was the greatest basketball player all-time and it wasn't even close. For 10+ years, he was simultaneously the best athlete, smartest player, most competitive, the best scorer hands-down and probably the best defender, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm also surprised you'd consider Gretzky in the same league as those others. He was the highest scorer in a ridiculously inflated scoring era and only won any championships with that stacked-beyond-belief 80's Oilers team. And he never promoted his sport to anywhere near the lasting popularity that Jordan did, and.... I can't believe I'm insulting Wayne Gretzky.
What about your Jordan description doesn't apply to Bill Russell, other than the points?
ReplyDeleteRussell played in an era with eight teams, I think, and his team had about half the talent. And the points do make a big difference, although Russel simply did not need to score because that team of course had half the talent in the league.
DeleteSports Night got it right.
ReplyDeleteAli, easily, was the most important athlete of the second half of the 20th Century.
ReplyDelete"most important" is different than "best athlete," although Jordan the merchandiser over political action hero has a more pragmatic case for that title, too.
DeleteAnd I can't believe I'm the only Jordan defender here. Wrong crowd, I guess. And I feel like this defense is just my Jordan atonement for arguing in the mid90s that Pat Ewing was the best in the NBA.
Huh. I'm rather impressed by that list for having only one entry I'd complete excise (Secretariat, for not being an athlete in the sense of not being a human being).
ReplyDelete