What’s Happened to Greatness?

As a jaded Knicks fan I was taught to appreciate, and after the fact even root for, greatness. After Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would dispose of the Knicks, which became ritual during the Springs of the 1990s, I would tip my cap to greatness. I would watch, and root, for Jordan’s Bulls after the Knicks series out of respect for greatness.

“If we can’t beat him, I hope no one else can,” I would tell myself, as if losing to the best made it hurt less.

As far as greatness is concerned, there will never be another Jordan just like there will never be another Muhammed Ali. This belief was validated to me by LeBron James when he was asked to “be like Mike” in a recent press conference during the NBA Finals, which returned to Cleveland with James’ Cavaliers trailing 2-0 at the time.

I’ve recently found myself in the midst of a social media crusade casting aside the mere thought putting James and Michael Jordan in the same sentence as basketball players.  James will never be as good at basketball as Jordan was and people who have watched both play know this to be absolutely true. In fact, James knows it. It’s the very reason he wants nothing to do with the comparisons.

"“I think for me to go out and be who I am and play as true to the game and as hard as I can and try to lead this team, that’s who I am. Not anybody else. I’m not Michael. I’m not Ali. I’m not nobody else that’s done so many great things for sport."

One reason why I’ve always felt the need to stand up and defend Jordan is because there needs to be a line drawn between perceived greatness and true greatness and if you have a platform to educate, it’s your duty to do so. Ali wanted to spread the awareness of the plights of millions who were oppressed, Jordan shared the NBA’s vision of wanting global reach and the wealth and influence to make changes that came with it. LeBron wants the embrace and adulation from the people he turned his back on six years ago. Jordan wanted to be a global icon, Ali fought tooth and nail for social awareness. LeBron wants the people of Ohio to give him a big hug and say it’s okay.

What’s happened to greatness?

I had to watch Jordan break the Knicks’ back year after year in the 1990s. My biggest defense of Jordan being head and shoulders better than James? ESPN’s SportsCentury exercise. When ESPN’s Mark Shapiro brilliantly decided to put a panel of the greatest sports minds together to vote on the top 100 athletes of the 20th Century, it was sure to create a firestorm of opinion. It was intended to fuel debates in sports bars and water coolers everywhere. While it certainly did, all the while building the “embrace debate” platform ESPN has built it’s empire on for over two decades, I’ve never heard anyone tell me that Mohammed Ali (#3) should have been voted ahead of Jordan. I’ve heard arguments for Babe Ruth, but never Ali. So, in that sense on the greatest stage after 100 years of sports, Jordan is the undisputed greatest athlete of all time ahead of Ali.

Think about that for a second.

By now you’ve read and heard about what Ali meant for the country and for his people and, let’s face it, for all people. His confidence and swagger at times and in situations where it wasn’t fully embraced will be his legacy. His strength, calm and precisely chosen humor in the face of extreme tension are what made him great. His coolness in the face of fear and bravado during controversy are extremely uncomfortable places to exist, and Ali was as unshakable there as he was while dancing and jabbing in the boxing ring. He was a great athlete, but his work outside of the ring made him greater. His fearlessness without the gloves made us ignore his bad losses and remember iconic wins.

In defense of LeBron, I’m not sure how well Ali or Jordan could have handled today’s constant critical eye. This cannot be ignored. The media scrutiny is everywhere and cameras are always on. Should we credit James more for having to deal with it all, or are people correct in believing that tossing everything else and focusing on championships is the proper litmus test of greatness? Goodness, even Jordan had his Washington Wizards days. But his legacy is his six championships, something James has made sure to constantly shy away from.

Moreover, should we accept the fact that gone are the days of Ali and Jordan? Throw Tiger Woods in there for good measure. Tiger’s drive was aimed solely at being the greatest ever to play the game of golf and he didn’t care if everyone knew it. These were men ballsy enough to bet on themselves, stand in the face society’s injustices and be comfortable with dodging the perils of popular opinion for the sake of global recognition and fame if they lost. They made the stakes high and worked feverishly to win. Stephen Curry has done well to reignite the Joe Average crowd, and the nerd mash he and the Warriors have created has had an impact, but Curry has a long way to go before all-time greatness. Is it okay as veteran fans to accept the fact that the greatness we remembered no longer exists? If we agree that the legends of yesteryear live only there then what exactly are we rooting to see? Who are we rooting for?

The fact remains there’s no reason for athletes today to pave roads that have already been paved. That work is done and what remains is maintenance that falls under the veil of some “passing of the torch” narrative. Such notions insult the true greats. Athletes today, like James, have no motivation to go outside their comfort zones because there are  just too many punches coming from too many directions for them to dodge. Why live uncomfortably when you have all the money and power in the world?  James runs the Cleveland organization from top to bottom, which is a far cry from Jordan, whose Bulls were disintegrated by a power struggle between him and the front office late in his career. Players who could use their fame and words for a greater purpose are quickly put on trial and dismissed in the court of hot take public opinion without any payoff. The most popular and controversial figures on social media become fodder for debate radio and debate television all day, every day.  There’s too many events and too much media coverage, which is why boxing was the perfect sport and platform for Ali to become Ali. He could control the narrative and choose when he needed to step forward. Today’s rapidly moving sports cycle, and ensuing coverage, is too intense of a microscope for the bigger conversation.

It’s so intense our athletes today, starting with James, feel the heavy weight of the need to be great and want nothing to do with it. That’s why those of use who were able to witness true greatness will always protect it.

Greatness earned deserves such respect.