The Greatest of All Time. One of the hottest, most opinionated topics in all of sports. Experts and fans alike attempt to compare players across generations in hopes of crowning the best the sport has ever seen.
Two of the greatest American professional sports athletes of all-time are playing right in front of our eyes: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. James has been in the conversation with Michael Jordan for greatest basketball player of all-time, and with his 8th Super Bowl appearance, it's hard to put Brady anywhere but the top of the greatest quarterbacks ever.
But wait, don't these two players have a history of choking in championship appearances? Doesn't this tarnish their legacies?
The answer to both questions is a resounding "No."
Many purists argue that Joe Montana, with a perfect 4-0 Super Bowl record, and Michael Jordan, 6-0 in the NBA Finals, are the greatest because of their perfect championship resumes. Brady fell to 5-3 with his loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and James is infamously 3-5 in NBA Finals appearances, with the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors handing him four of those losses.
It's much easier to see why Brady surpasses Montana in championship pedigree: five Super Bowl wins is more than four, and eight appearances are twice as many as Montana. This seems like simple logic, but after the Super Bowl I still saw fans arguing on Facebook and Twitter that Brady will never surpass Montana with an imperfect Super Bowl record.
It's a little harder to defend James as he trails Jordan by three championships, but he's already been to two more with more trips likely on the way.
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| USA Today |
One Player Can't Control the Outcome Alone
While fans count championship losses against an athlete's resume, they still serve as positive points in a player's career.
These fans argue that Brady isn't as clutch in the big game as Montana since he's allowed his team to lose. Sure, maybe he could have scored more points in both matchups with the New York Giants, but those were hard-fought games where the loss could hardly be pinned on Brady.
But this past Sunday especially: Brady had the most passing yards by any quarterback in NFL playoff history. In eight Super Bowl appearances, it was his best game. The 33 points put up by the Patriots would have won them all 7 previous Super Bowls. Yet, the loss to the Eagles is supposed to tarnish Brady's legacy?
Brady was more valuable in this Super Bowl than he was in any of the previous seven, but the Patriots still walked away with a loss. This is exactly why quarterback wins and losses can be a weak stat to use, it hardly tells the whole story. Brady can put up 500 yards, 33 points and still lose. Tim Tebow can go 2-9 passing and come away with a win because his defense played great.
Again, to entertain the counter-argument, some may say that Montana simply never put his team in a position to lose in the Super Bowl. To be fair, three of his four wins were blowouts, so he did take a lot of pressure off his defense. But in the closest game, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16. What if San Francisco's defense gave up a game-winning touchdown? Would that be pinned on Montana, who wasn't on the field?
Especially in the NFL, where players play only one side of the field, one player cannot be expected to determine the outcome of the game. Half the game will always be decided by the defense, which is beyond the quarterback's control.
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| Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports |
Take James' epic performance in the 2015 NBA Finals against the Warriors. He averaged a mind-boggling 35.8 points, 8.8 assists and 13.3 rebounds per game, becoming the first player in NBA Finals history to lead both teams in all major categories. It was a historic series for the ages, where James took a team missing both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving after Game 1, seven games against an incredible Warriors team. The Cavaliers came up short, but was James to blame?
Why should this Finals performance count less than his wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs? He won in both cases, but wasn't nearly as spectacular.
Another way to look at it: would Jordan have beat the 2015 Warriors with the same roster? I'd be willing to bet the series doesn't even go six games as LeBron did.
Not Making the Championship Game is the Same as a Loss
This is probably my biggest gripe in the GOAT arguments: Montana and Jordan have perfect championship records, when they made it to the game.
In 16 seasons as a starter, Tom Brady has won 5 Super Bowls and appeared in eight.
In 12 seasons as a starter (we'll even leave out his Kansas City Chiefs years) Joe Montana won 4 Super Bowls in 4 appearances.
So in a sense, Brady has gone 5-for-16 (32%) and Montana has gone 4-12 (33%). These are nearly identical winning percentages, but of course is blown out of the water if we look at appearances. Brady appeared in the Super Bowl 8 of his 16 full seasons: an outstanding 50-50 shot. Montana stays at the same 33% mark.
Imagine playing in the championship to end half the seasons in which you play? For this reason, Brady more consistently puts his team in a position to win the big game than Montana. You have to be in it to win it, and Brady has been better at getting in it than any other quarterback in NFL history.
For Jordan, we'll work with 13 seasons of his career: every season with the Chicago Bulls (including the "I'm back" season) but not his tenure with the Washington Wizards. (This only helps Jordan's case, as his numbers would go down by adding those two seasons).
So in 13 seasons, Jordan won and appeared in 6-of-13 NBA Finals (46%). Coincidentally, LeBron James has also played in 13 seasons not counting the current one. His 3-for-13 (23%) winning percentage pales in comparison to Jordan, but his 8-for-13 (62%) appearance rate is astounding. More times than not in his career, James final buzzer came in the NBA Finals. Jordan cannot say the same. In 13 seasons, Jordan was eliminated before reaching the Finals seven times, while James has only suffered that fate five times.
James has never had a first round exit: Jordan has. James hasn't been eliminated prior to the Finals since 2010 in his original stint with the Cavaliers.
Not making the Finals is worse than losing in them, even at the expense of a perfect record. Like Brady, James also puts his team in a more consistent position to be champions at years ends.
Conclusion
- LeBron James and Tom Brady have appeared in more championships, putting their team in a more consistent position to win a championship.
- Being eliminated before the championship is worse than losing in the championship.
- Players can't determine the outcome alone: Brady and James best performance both came in a loss.
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