Despite Muhammad Ali proclaiming, “I am the greatest,” there is no such thing in sports.
All the ear splitting, headache inducing, hot-take television sports shows can out scream each other until laryngitis sets in, that they know definitively that this guy was the greatest quarterback, the best pitcher, or unquestioned top team of all-time. It’s like proclaiming the best all-time pizza or burger. It’s subjective based on your era, bias and overall taste.
The greatest of all-time talk is a constant in these NBA Finals. If the Warriors accomplish 16-0 in the playoffs, something no team has ever done, they could be the best NBA team ever. The best duo talk is heating up with the performances of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry in June. If LeBron James can overcome Golden State down 2-0 in consecutive Finals, the Jordan versus James debate will fire up.
Having been delightfully tasked with filling four hours of high quality sports talk each weekday, I get it. Things can get rather slow in mid-July, and best or greatest lists can look like a cool river in the middle of the Mojave.
It’s not to say there aren’t strong cases for say Jerry Rice as the greatest wide receiver, he owns all the major receiving records, he has the required Super Bowl titles. However, is he the greatest if he’s drafted by a bad team, with a worse quarterback, in a cold weather city?
There are variables. The era you play in, the situation of the team, coaching, players around you, injuries and just plain luck. How is it Dan Marino’s fault he never won a Super Bowl because the Dolphins had no defense, and Eli Manning has two rings? Is Eli Manning better than Dan Marino? Uh, no. Charles Barkley, John Stockton and Karl Malone are all down graded because they have no rings. There’s a list, but it’s not absolute.
The problem is, this isn’t math, there is no science. There is no true right answer. The games are always evolving. There is no unquestioned formula. Even in this day and age where we are bombarded with more numbers than ever before in sports, there is no unequivocal numerical proof.
Here’s why.
Sports change. Rules change, trends change, strategy changes, athletes have changed. Magic Johnson proclaimed the 1980’s Lakers would sweep the 2017 Warriors. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen claimed the 1995-96 72-win Bulls would sweep the 2015-16 73-win Warriors.
In the case of the Bulls versus Warriors, we would have to determine which era the game would be played in. I don’t have a DeLorean, so we can’t go back in time. Can the Bulls be as physical as they were back then? Who blows their stack first: Dennis Rodman or Draymond Green? Those Bulls averaged 16.5 3-point shots per game, the Warriors nearly 32. The Bulls led the NBA in scoring during their 72-win season, averaging 105.2, the Warriors averaged almost 115. Who sets the pace? The Warriors averaged 99.3 possessions per 48 minutes, the Bulls 91.1. The Bulls defense was statically much better, but teams were running less. What happens when the Warriors go small or the Bulls go into Doberman mode?
It’s fun to argue about over drinks, but nothing even close to science can be determined. The NBA game is far too different now, and trying to predict who will do what against whom is nearly impossible game to game, let alone 20 years apart. Don’t even get me started on how Steve Kerr would coach for the Warriors but play for the Bulls.
Maybe some day these Warriors can be in the discussion. Durant and Curry talked about as a dynamic duo to rival Magic and Worthy, Jordan and Pippen, Bird and McHale, or Batman and Robin. If the Warriors accomplish 16-0 through the playoffs, combined with the most wins over a three year period in the history of the NBA, and two titles in three years, they will go down in history as one of the best. However, fans of the Celtics in the 1960’s — where Boston won eight titles in the decade and six in a row — would laugh at the Warriors little appetizer streak. Yes, there was basketball before Jordan for the younger demographic.
Trying to once and for all agree on who or what is the greatest of all-time, and emptying your lungs to convince others of the same is entertaining over beers and necessary for sports talk. Thankfully, for all fans though, there is no indisputable math, no matter how many numbers you have. There isn’t an exact, nerdy science and there are no time machines. What there are is too many variables for anything more than an educated opinion.
I like the talk, but being verbally invited to the room where the all-time talk is going on has to be all-time enough.