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Is the gap between Jordan and Lebron smaller than the gap between Messi and Pele/Maradonna for GOAT status in their respective sports? (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by Scopuli-@alien.top to c/nba@nba.space

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Messi has become the undisputed GOAT in soccer since winning the World Cup last year. Heck, he already had GOAT shouts and consensus GOAT status way even before then (since 2013, 9 years into his career).

I was wondering if the gap between Jordan (the consensus GOAT atm) and LeBron is smaller than Messi vs. Pele/Maradonna, the two names that many widely consider to be 2nd/3rd (different order depending on the person).

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[–] tomludo@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

If you had to focus on a throwaway line instead of the rest you're just a fanboy.

I clearly stated my opinion on the debate: Messi is the better player, and I believe this debate will fade in time like the Maradona vs Platini one. On the other hand, if you believe the argument is so one sided that no one could plausibly give a different answer then you're just biased.

Ronaldo played 150 more games, 3 seasons worth, at a high level and that's in itself an achievement, not a knock. They both virtually retired already so being able to last more at a high level is indeed important.

Nobody cares about Copa del Rey or the various Supercups. For trophies that actually matter: 9 to 8 in Top 4 League wins for Messi, 5 to 4 for Ronaldo in Champions Leagues, including a 3peat which hadn't been done since the 70's. In International play Ronaldo has a Euro with a team that had never won anything, Messi has a Copa America and the WC with a team that won both several times. Seems fairly evenly matched to me.

Ronaldo is physically superior in every way, and is orders of magnitude better in the air.

Ronaldo proved himself in multiple Leagues and contexts, excelling both in the most physical one (EPL) and in the most technical one (Liga), winning a lot in both, nationally and internationally. Messi didn't. He played basically his entire career in Spain and then he took a short trip to France where he only collected underwhelming results.

All of these are definitely fair arguments for people to use in a debate. Again, I believe Messi is definitely the better player, but believing it is such a one sided argument is just plain wrong.