I was listening to a hockey podcast and the hosts were saying that Connor McDavid I will be the best hockey player ever. Then the question came up what if he never wins a championship?
In team sports I do think you can have a GOAT or hall of fame type career but never win it all because somethings you just can’t control. Tom Brady doesn’t play defense or special teams but he’s got two championships directly related to those units performing or making a huge play (Malcom Butler). When people see greatness you just know. I think of players like Calvin Johnson, Barry Sanders, and Dan Marino clearly GOATS but no championship.
Stackers what do you think? Can you be great without ever winning a championship?
I think it depends on the sport. For the NBA, I would say no, since the great players can dominate a game. For the other sports, it would depend on the position. The best baseball pitcher in the world is only out there twice a week at most, so requiring a championship is a little ridiculous.
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I think I agree with you. I'd add, though, that it should be obvious that a player is making winning plays, in order to be considered great.
Barry Sanders is a great example for this. Sometimes a great player gets stuck with a loser franchise, but it's clear that they are elevating the team well beyond where they would otherwise be.
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124 sats \ 3 replies \ @gnilma 18 May
I disagree with the NBA example. There are numerous great players, first ballot hall of famers, in the history of the league that never won a championship. Sometimes, even if you play great and are on a great team, you just get unlucky and run into even greater players/teams.
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How can you be the greatest player and run into a greater player
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50 sats \ 1 reply \ @gnilma 18 May
Title of this thread said "great player" not "greatest player". I also said great player, not greatest player. In fact, I never mentioned greatest player. There were so many great players in the NBA that never got a ring in their careers, but I would not consider them the greatest players.
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My bad I misread the title
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You can definitely be great without ever winning a championship. We could all list of probably 100’s of players that never won the BIG GAME.
-The sport matters —Golf, Tennis, basketball etc (Have to win) —-Baseball, football, hockey have too many factors
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Absolutely. Philip Rivers comes to mind, though there are probably countless others.
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Yes, I believe that this is possible, extrapolating this to football, Harry Kane comes to mind, he is not the best player in the world, but he is one of the greatest goalscorers of the last decade, and he does not have a single title in his honours, it is ironic.
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30 sats \ 1 reply \ @BTCFC 18 May
Lol I was just about to mention Harry Kane, but you beat me to it! An absolutely amazing finisher of the modern game and great football IQ.
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He is undoubtedly one of the leaders in this area.
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I will say yes depending on the environment you're coming from. It depends on the effort and commitment you put to it. You don't have to win it all to be a champion.
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Definitely,but if you only play it right. When you give it your all in anything ,you'll always be a champion.
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To link it with IPL, I'm watching a great match today. I've just come to know that one of the greatest players of all time is Virat Kohli. He's been playing for the same franchise for 15 to 20 years now but his franchise has never been able to win the championship.
Virat Kohli is the richest and best batsmen in the world.
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I think you can be a legend but maybe not the GOAT. I think part of being the GOAT is winning multiple championships.
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