Michael Jordan, The Last Dance prompt the question: Who is the people’s GOAT?
The biggest takeaway from The Last Dance is that Michael Jordan might be the greatest athlete who ever lived. What do you think? | VOTE NOW
Americans call them takeaways. You watch something or you hear something or you experience something and afterwards … what’s the takeaway? What’s the lesson? What has stuck in the memory? What have you most gratefully and emphatically received?
Takeaways from The Last Dance documentary: Michael Jordan’s laughter when he was talking about The Glove. His proclamation after landing The Shot against Cleveland: Go home, motherf … ers!
His dissatisfaction with the press release for his comeback. His manager wrote three drafts. Corny PR claptrap, by the sound of it. So Jordan tore up the drafts and wrote one himself. I’m Back.
The biggest takeaway, however, was that Jordan just might be the greatest athlete who ever lived. I think … I think it’s not important what I think. My opinion on the G.O.A.T is no more important than any other.
Collectively, though, our collective verdict, there’s a yarn! Which is why we’re so keen on everyone’s view. Who’s the People’s G.O.A.T?
We’ve opened a poll. Share it. Spread it far and wide. Give it to your mates and their mates. In Australia. Overseas. On Saturday we’ll publish the results. From X-number of respondents, the People’s G.O.A.T is …
We’ve settled on a shortlist of 10. Just one Australian — Don Bradman — then Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Pele, Serena Williams, Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Babe Ruth. It’s for us on the sports desk to do our own list. I think it’s for you to reveal.
We cannot wait for the numbers to roll in. We cannot wait for the accompanying comments. Jordan first? Why? Bradman first? Why? The beauty of an exercise such as this will be the banter. A thousand different takeaways will come of it; how we view sport, historically, before it gets up and running again.
I think I’m leaning towards Jordan. But I need some thinking music. Maybe I’m keen on him because I’ve just watched The Last Dance. If I’d just gorged on a doco on Ali, or Federer, or Edson Arantes de Nascimento (Pele), or the Golden Bear (Nicklaus), or any of them, I may have been swayed by that.
We’ll have our different criteria. I think the one given is that only the highlights matter.
Because they’ve all missed the mark, they’ve all botched it, they’ve all lost, they’ve all had ordinary days. But when they’re at the utmost peaks of their powers, when they’re going toe-to-toe with their greatest foes, when they’re in the highest reaches of the zone, when they’re in full fitness and sharpness and emotional involvement, when they’re on, who do I most want to witness in the flesh-and-blood?
I think that’s key. If I have one day to live, and the choice of one athlete to watch before I toddle off, which one is it? If I have the chance to shake one athlete’s hand, to say goodonya for your contribution, for elevating the spirits of humankind, whom do I reach out to? I think I’m interested in how they have made people feel.
THE CONTENDERS
Michael Jordan: Six NBA titles for the Chicago Bulls. Olympic gold. Self-proclaimed “Black Jesus” who electrified and personified his sport and his nation.
Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight champion of the world in the most elemental of sports: Prizefighting. Nicknamed The Greatest - by himself. Few have argued. The Thrilla In Manila. The Rumble In The Jungle. Historic stuff.
Don Bradman: 99.94. His Test average said it all. The best since then – Tendulkar, Ponting, Kohli, Smith – have averaged 53.8, 51.8, 53.6 and 62.8. Unparalleled dominance.
Pele: king of the world game. Scored 1281 goals in a 22-year career. Franz Beckenbauer said: “If you would use the word perfect, Pele almost is there. He was the greatest soccer player in the history of this game.”
Serena Williams: 23 majors. More than Federer. More than anyone in the Open era. A 20-year-career. Phases of superiority in which she was virtually unbeatable.
Usain Bolt: A hat-trick of Olympic gold in the blue ribbon events of 100m and 200m. One-off triumphs at four-year-intervals. Triumphs under extraordinary now-or-never pressure.
Roger Federer: An untouchable phase. Beauty and brilliance. The ultimate statesman. Twenty majors, the most by any male. Sprinkled with magic dust.
Jack Nicklaus: 18 majors over 25 years. Unmatched longevity. Won his first major in 1962. Won his last in 1986. Three more majors than Tiger Woods - in a tougher era.
Tiger Woods: The dilemma. He hits the ball farther than Nicklaus. With more spin. He has advanced the level of golf. He has transcended his sport like few others. But he still hasn’t won as many majors as Jack.
Babe Ruth: Seven World Series wins for the Red Sox and Yankees. The king of Murderers’ Row. The Bradman of America. “Eat my dust,” he said.
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