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What is greatness? Who is great? Why are they great? What metrics determine what makes someone great? Who gets to anoint someone as great and whose opinion doesn’t matter? Is there one definition of greatness we can all rally around? How greatly divided are we about who is great and who isn’t?
This question burns this morning among all basketball fans because of what ESPN analyst Jay Williams said about Caitlin Clark, who this week broke the all-time scoring record for women’s college basketball and is on her way to winning National Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
JWill said he was unwilling to call her great. “I hold ‘great,’ or the level of immortality or the pantheon, to when you win championships.”
In other words, he won’t consider her great unless her Iowa team wins the national championship this year.
Yo JUnwilling, I am unwilling to think of your opinion as anything more than you saying this to generate more attention for yourself, to be seen as an astute observer of basketball, pull in more clicks and followers, and use all this as justification for why ESPN should pay you more and offer you more high-profile broadcasting opportunities, making you more popular and sought after for high profile gigs.
Also, JUnwilling, I am unwilling to believe anything other than you said this to call attention to what you believe is your own greatness because you played on a national championship team. That accomplishment, you want to remind us, made you great. I am unwilling to say you’re great, JUnwilling. Sorry.
One simple question for you: Was Pistol Pete Maravich not great because he didn’t win the NCAA title? Of course, he was. Scored more points than anyone for his college career. Not great? What?
You’re the one whose opinion on this matter isn’t great. I’m unwilling to see this any other way.
You’re a self-promoter for saying this, JUnwilling. You know Clark is great but you decided to push your own agenda and line your pockets with more money. Saying stupid and disingenuous things like this won’t make you a great basketball analyst.
But this isn’t all about your ego and professional ambitions, neither of which is of much concern to any of us. The issues raised by your lame take are larger and more universal.
Greatness is not something we can prove with an algorithm or calculator. Situations, teams, players, and context factor in.
Is a Big Mac great? Is a Baconator great? Some may think so, others not. I happen to think both the Bic Mac and Baconator are great and so are the BK Whopper and so are McDonald’s fries.
Is what Adrian Dantley does now as a crosswalk official for a local school a greater contribution to the world than the greatness he achieved as a basketball player? You could argue yes.
Is a person who works in a soup kitchen a great person? Is it better to go work for a non-profit or a for-profit? What about Einstein? How about Mother Theresa? Who was America’s greatest president?
Greatness is subjective. But some opinions such as mine are of more value than others. To me this greatness: Nikola Jokic’s passes; everything about Wayne Gretzky and Morgan Wootten; Larry Legend; Steph Curry; Oscar Robertson; Kein Durant; “Baby Blue Eyes” by Badfinger; all ice cream cakes; Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach; Starbucks Mocha Schmokas; stationary bike rides; the Wake Forest Quad; Rudy, Pistol, and CGlennyB hanging out by an outdoor rock fire trading shouts and not listening to each other; Bert Donohoe’s rainbow baseline jumper; beating DeMatha; free-thinking art; and Spoog.
This list is not exhaustive, however. There’s another guy who epitomizes greatness. In his case, it’s not a subjective argument. It’s empirical and undeniable.
His greatness knows no limits, expands across time, space, and hemispheres, and addresses specific demographics by addressing their needs. His blogs spew greatness in every conceivable way from insight to wonderment to curiosity to knowledge to perspective to wisdom to timeliness to differentiation to purity of prose.
Let there be no more debate: Sammy Sportface is great.
So is Caitlin Clark.
And none of us should be willing to see this any other way.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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