Today’s blog will be more focused around opinion than some of my posts in the past, but I believe that discussing the topic of naming who is the greatest of all time (GOAT) is pertinent to much of the contemporary media coverage.
Who is the best to ever play? Who should go down in history as the greatest? Across all modern sports there is endless discussion as to whether or not the athletes of yesterday could stack up against our current greats. In basketball, the controversy surrounds Michael Jordan, who is the consensus number one, and LeBron James, who some believe has usurped the original 23 to take the title. In soccer, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo seem to be contesting each other for the title of best in the world every year, but are they as good as some of the most memorable names in soccer: Diego Maradona, Pelé, Johan Cruyff . Today in tennis, we are blessed with three men and one woman who could legitimately make claims at being the GOAT. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have collectively won 54 out of the 65 major tournaments since 2003. Serena Williams has had one of the most dominant peaks in women’s tennis history. In golf too, there was a point at which it was believed, and sometimes still is, that Tiger Woods would eclipse Jack Nicklaus as the best golfer ever.
Even these accolades, however, are sometimes not enough to completely dispel doubt. Whether it be from an older generation looking to maintain a level of credibility with their era, or just people who are looking for any reason to bring an enemy down, the process to becoming the greatest feels as though it will never become easier. In recent memory, the only two individuals who have laid claim completely to the GOAT title have been Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, and Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast the world has seen. To think that these utter freaks of nature are the only two who have broken through demonstrates just how hight the bar is.
In my opinion, none of this should really matter. Especially in team sports where judgement is subjective depending on your nationality or favorite team. There is really no way to compare the likes of Michael Jordan to LeBron James. Yes, they are both the best players of their era, but play style, conditioning, rules, and surrounding talent all play a key factor in where the stats apparently show differences from one to the other. For the tennis champions, the speed of play has increased dramatically making decision making in today’s game that much more difficult than in the past. Likewise, technology and training have also improved meaning that modern players have the capacity to compete at such high levels.
Training, nutrition, and technique are probably the most important distinctions between players today and those even just 20 years ago. The real question often centers around, could players from the past keep up today, or could athletes today handle the play style of the past? This is where it should all come to an end. There is truly no way to know. Most likely, athletes from either time period would be able to adjust with training and practice, but who is to say that against modern competition Maradona is nowhere near the level of Messi, or that using the technology and style of the 1960s and 70s, Tiger Woods could not replicate any of his magic the way Nicklaus was able to back then. The reality is that we will never know. As much as I would like to have a definitive answer as to who I should revere each day and aspire to become, there is no way to do so. Even my own opinions will tend to favor the athletes that I watch meaning that my opinion is very biased just as is everyone else’s. 
This post will not suddenly cause an end to discussions about who is the GOAT, but what I hope it will do for anyone who reads it, is make you very aware of the biases and real inaccuracies that go into any such argument. Just for the fun of it, I’ll take a moment to fall into the trap. Out of the athletes mentioned today I would choose LeBron James, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Tiger Woods. Would you look at that? All athletes that I have watched. Point proven.