Who’s the GOAT? LeBron James or Michael Jordan? It’s a debate that has consumed the sports world in recent years and will likely go on for the next decade. However, the answer isn’t just specific to that debate but to the debate of any sport.
Everyone wants to compare eras and players that played decades apart. The problem is that there is no competition in that debate; today’s athletes are miles beyond the professional players of yesterday.
Every day it seems like someone is breaking a record. While watching SportsCenter, you learn that Stephen Curry is the first to do this, James Harden the first to do that and LeBron James is on pace to do something.
At some point, you wonder why it happens so often. The top athletes today, in any sport, are far more athletic and far more skilled than the top athletes of the past. LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time and I’m not sure why there is still a big debate.
I won’t get into the stats of the argument because comparing the two isn’t what I’m arguing. My point is that there are a handful of players in the NBA right now that are better than Michael Jordan.
It’s nothing against Jordan, he’s one of the best and six rings is incredible, but when you look at the athleticism and skill of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is no competition.
One thing that I would argue is that the clutch factor of NBA stars doesn’t increase with time. MJ had that clutch factor, the ability to make the biggest shots in the biggest moments, and he hit some of the biggest shots in the history of the Association.
The NBA is only the easiest example, not the exception. MLB players fall under the same argument. Based on his ability to excel in all five tools of baseball, 27-year-old Mike Trout might be the best player of all time.
For example, Babe Ruth’s career batting average was .342 with 714 career home runs. Compared to players in his generation, it’s one of the best of all time, but I don’t think Ruth would survive in today’s game. He didn’t face the speed or stuff that Major League pitchers are equipped with now.
Although there were no radar guns 100 years ago, pitchers likely didn’t average mid-90-mph fastballs. They certainly didn’t have some of the nasty breaking pitches that players see today.
Not only does this include Trout, but a number of current players that could be considered some of the best players of all time, like Mookie Betts, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Altuve, Albert Pujols, Carlos Correa, Joey Votto, Max Scherzer, Kris Bryant and Manny Machado.
Some of these players are solidified veterans and some are up-and-coming stars, but both groups are breaking records and putting up numbers that have never been seen before. And they are doing it against each other, tougher competition than any of the previous generations of players.
The biggest, and maybe more controversial, assumption about my argument is about future athletes. If players nowadays are getting increasingly better, that means the young players or even college kids could be the GOATs of their respective sports in a number of years.
NC State one-and-done basketball player Dennis Smith Jr. was drafted 9th overall in the 2017 NBA draft. Not only could he develop to be a superstar, but his unique athleticism is something that is rare from the best point guards in the world. Smith showed that by his runner-up finish in the 2019 NBA Slam Dunk Contest in Charlotte.
It’s not only Smith. There are a lot of young stars and rookies that are making huge impacts on their respective teams. This is no more apparent than in the upcoming 2019 NBA draft with the trio of Duke freshmen.
Zion Williamson, the highest publicized of the three, could be the most athletic player to ever come out of college. He scores points and collects rebounds with ease and will likely go No. 1 overall.
If Williamson isn’t drafted in the top spot, it will probably be his Blue Devil teammate, R.J. Barrett, who reps a similar exciting play style that can immediately impact a professional squad. Either one of them or any player in the top-10 draft picks could be the next GOAT.
As time goes on, athletes of all sports will continue to get better, break records, do things that nobody thought was possible and continue to be better than those before them. For now, enjoy the fact that you’re watching the greatest players of all time every single day.
