Who's the Greatest?

[marcro]

games of what tho ffs!!!!!!

jordan better than ali, maradona, pele, senna, schumacher, johnson?, i could go on and on.

Yes, Jordan easily made that category.  If you did not see him in action and the effect he had on spectators you have missed something.  I lived in Chicago during Jordan's heyday and it was something to see.  NBC covered the basketball and televised every Chicago Bulls game which was unusual - many people thought NBC stood for Nothing But Chicago because of this.

[77dave]

This is such a difficult question comparing eras and sports.

Tiger Woods probably is a close as we are going to get at a good answer to this imo. He is head and shoulders the best in his sport and has been for years. In a sport until he arrived on the scene was very competitive and favourites for majors would be around 10/1 in the betting. He is the greatest golfer of all time no question, Nicklaus et al played in less competitive eras, where only a handful of players could win a major.

As for other candidates of the modern era Roger Federer in Tennis, will no doubt be an all time great and arguably the greatest Tennis player of all time.

Shane Warne no doubt the best spinner ever, no-one will get near to Bradman as a batsman the fact his average 40 runs more than any other test player ever is just remarkable.

Cycling is a strange one, firstly its shrouded in drug allegations and the likes of Indurain and Armstrong while great cyclists were somewhat one dimensional and won back to back Tour de France as they were best time trialists with the best teams.

I think the only current geniune candidate for greatness in boxing is Floyd Mayweather but best ever not for me, though he would make my top 10 pound for pound ever.

Highly debateable that Warne is the best spinner ever.

Muralitharan has taken more wickets,has a better average and a better strike rate.

All true but you have to remember that Warne had McGrath and others taking wickets before Warne even got the ball in his hands. Plus Warne took wickets around the world, if you look at Muralis record home against away  its nowhere near as good

[celtic]

games of what tho ffs!!!!!!

jordan better than ali, maradona, pele, senna, schumacher, johnson?, i could go on and on.

Yes, Jordan easily made that category.  If you did not see him in action and the effect he had on spectators you have missed something.  I lived in Chicago during Jordan's heyday and it was something to see.  NBC covered the basketball and televised every Chicago Bulls game which was unusual - many people thought NBC stood for Nothing But Chicago because of this.

the effect he had on spectators in chicago / america. wow. the others i mentioned are WORLD legends. Though to be fair i did like his trainers.

[marcro]

games of what tho ffs!!!!!!

jordan better than ali, maradona, pele, senna, schumacher, johnson?, i could go on and on.

Yes, Jordan easily made that category.  If you did not see him in action and the effect he had on spectators you have missed something.  I lived in Chicago during Jordan's heyday and it was something to see.  NBC covered the basketball and televised every Chicago Bulls game which was unusual - many people thought NBC stood for Nothing But Chicago because of this.

the effect he had on spectators in chicago / america. wow. the others i mentioned are WORLD legends. Though to be fair i did like his trainers.

Enough said, lol.

[Longy]

Highly debateable that Warne is the best spinner ever.

Muralitharan has taken more wickets,has a better average and a better strike rate.

Fair point, and yes Murilis record is v impressive. He has alot of matches in that record against sub standard opposition (Bangladesh, Zimbabwe) and played more on sub contenital wickets which are more spinner friendly.

Plus there is something about Warne and the way he bowled which was more intimidating than Murili, Warne> Murili imo.

[77dave]

games of what tho ffs!!!!!!

jordan better than ali, maradona, pele, senna, schumacher, johnson?, i could go on and on.

Yes, Jordan easily made that category.  If you did not see him in action and the effect he had on spectators you have missed something.  I lived in Chicago during Jordan's heyday and it was something to see.  NBC covered the basketball and televised every Chicago Bulls game which was unusual - many people thought NBC stood for Nothing But Chicago because of this.

the effect he had on spectators in chicago / america. wow. the others i mentioned are WORLD legends. Though to be fair i did like his trainers.

i doubt there is a bigger named sportsman in the world then Jordan  maybe he is fading but 10 years ago without doubt he was the biggest name in world sports

[celtic]

Greatest of all time? is the thread title, not great with lots of publicity / named merchandise etc. wont be remembered by the masses like Ali, Pele or maybe Woods will be.

[77dave]

I bet he will

even above some of the names you mention

[marcro]

Greatest of all time? is the thread title, not great with lots of publicity / named merchandise etc. wont be remembered by the masses like Ali, Pele or maybe Woods will be.

You really do not know much about Michael Jordan do you, lol.

[Longy]

Problem with Jordan especially if we look at from uk-centric point of view basketball is minority sport in the scheme of thing, as I suppose cycling is.

If we are going down that route, what about Wayne Gretzky.

[celtic]

jordan succeeded in the usa, and no doubt was the basketball 'world champion of the usa' the others proved their greatness the world over.

[marcro]

Problem with Jordan especially if we look at from uk-centric point of view basketball is minority sport in the scheme of thing, as I suppose cycling is.

If we are going down that route, what about Wayne Gretzky.

The greatest ice hockey player for sure.

[77dave]

jordan succeeded in the usa, and no doubt was the basketball 'world champion of the usa' the others proved their greatness the world over.

How did Ali prove himself the world over apart from a few fights in Africa.

Jordan played basketball in the US but all the best players from around the world played against him in the NBA.

[Pelham Boy]

Highly debateable that Warne is the best spinner ever.

Muralitharan has taken more wickets,has a better average and a better strike rate.

Fair point, and yes Murilis record is v impressive. He has alot of matches in that record against sub standard opposition (Bangladesh, Zimbabwe) and played more on sub contenital wickets which are more spinner friendly.

Plus there is something about Warne and the way he bowled which was more intimidating than Murili, Warne> Murili imo.

I read somewhere that even taking his away his wickets against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh,his strike rate and average compares favourably.
Even if Murali gets to 1000 wickets i don't believe he will get the credit he deserves because of his action.

[celtic]

Greatest of all time? is the thread title, not great with lots of publicity / named merchandise etc. wont be remembered by the masses like Ali, Pele or maybe Woods will be.

You really do not know much about Michael Jordan do you, lol.

NO!!