Is Leo Messi the greatest sportsman of all time do you think?

[Blaugrana Bull]

@Torn

Considering Jordan and his records: He is the leading scorer and has the highest average in playoffs and has most Finals MVP titles. So he is still holding the most important records. And if you would ask fans, experts, players etc. who is the best basketball player to ever play the game at least 75% would say Michael Jordan which is a ridiculously high number.

 

[Catalan Fan]

Ali, always will be too imo.No one else comes close.

 

[Sumlit]

Almost impossible to compare individual impact on a particular sport across different sports and different eras. Far too many variables to reliably come out with an undisputed winner. The best we can do is pick each top man in any particular sport, and create a pantheon with all sporting legends.

However I'll say this, the higher the number of players taking part in a team sport, the harder it is one for particular player to exert his/her dominance and for his/her impact to be appreciable and determining. The impact of a particular player in an 11 player team is lesser by nature than another in a 5 player team, etc. This alone puts Messi's particular dominance, both in length and impact, on a particular high level compared to others.

 

[raki]

From my lifetime,35 years, i choose Michael Jordan. No hesitation.

 

[raskolnikov]

Ali, always will be too imo.No one else comes close.

As an icon hell yeah, but in boxing Sugar ray Robinson is widely considered p4p goat.
I think its to tough to determine a clear goat sportsman.
All we can say for sure is if Messi is the best player in this era and best of what we have seen.

 

[barcanuck]

Hard to say no! But his legacy will be measured for decades after he retires so he will be greatest!

 

[Yannik]

The greatest Sportsman.. Well he has won 5 Ballon D'Ors
if I remember correctly then Usain Bolt and Muhammad Ali have exactly zero.
On the other hand Messi has a poor record in the Heavyweight division, soooo

 

[ManusXavi]

Jonah Lomu (rugby), Sebastian Loeb (Rally) , Michael Jordan (Basketball) and Phil Taylor (Darts) say hello

 

[Mitchell1978]

Jonah Lomu (rugby), Sebastian Loeb (Rally) , Michael Jordan (Basketball) and Phil Taylor (Darts) say hello

Eddy Merckx (cycling), Karelin (wrestling) also goats in there own sport, difficult to compare

 

[dakt]

Greatest sportsman? How do you compare Leo with Gasparov?
Leo is one of the greatest footballers of all time. For me, as far as I know, he is the greatest.

 

[NotInHere]

this doesn't even make sense, every sport has their goat.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

I agree with the sentiment that it's near impossible to compare athletes, both in how they were great and their respective impact on their particular sport. Also it's hard to define 'greatness' , is it based more on pure skill and ability or their impact on the sport? And if both, does one have more weight or is it 50/50?

A good example of this, just in one sport., is hockey. A lot of people cite Gretzky (aka The Great One, TGO) and based purely on skill, it's a reasonable assertion. But what of Rocket Richard, Valeri Kharlamov, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr? All were equally skilled and as dominant during their times, and players like Orr and Bobby Hull revolutionized the game with their innovations to the game (Orr being the first offensive defenseman, Hull first to use a curved blade). Gretzky's greatest impact on hockey was bringing the game to the West Coast. Hard to say whose the greatest when you factor in things like that. This is even harder when taking about the greatest American football player too.

Same thing with this situation. Jordan changed Basketball. Ali changed Boxing. But skill wise, I'd argue Wilt Chamberlain and Sugar Ray Robinson were more skilled and more dominant, of course marginally, but I think it's justifiable considering their records. So to bring this full circle, it's impossible to compare Messi to someone like Ali, or hell even Jesse Owens, because he's not political and a key asset of why these players are considered the greatest was their political impact.

Based on raw skill, Messi is better than Jordan, on par with Gretsky and Orr, and more successful that someone like Barry Sanders (IMO the greatest football player of all time) or Babe Ruth. The best athlete I can compare him to as far as dominance and pure natural skill is Bo Jackson. He's that kind of phenomenon where he simply does unthinkable things that no one else does and just dominates any game he plays in.

Lol despite this, I'll still say he is tied for Pele as the GOAT in football. I know, go ahead and castrate me.

 

[Alik]

Lol despite this, I'll still say he is tied for Pele as the GOAT in football. I know, go ahead and castrate me.

 

[FC B]

Certainly Messi is the greatest footballer of all time up until today. Can't just mingle sports, eras and people like that.

 

[Aryagorn]

Can't compare different generations let alone compare two different sports! How can you compare individual sports like that of Usain Bolt and Federer(even if there is, it really is negligible amount of team play when compared to football!)

Almost impossible to compare individual impact on a particular sport across different sports and different eras. Far too many variables to reliably come out with an undisputed winner. The best we can do is pick each top man in any particular sport, and create a pantheon with all sporting legends.

However I'll say this, the higher the number of players taking part in a team sport, the harder it is one for particular player to exert his/her dominance and for his/her impact to be appreciable and determining. The impact of a particular player in an 11 player team is lesser by nature than another in a 5 player team, etc. This alone puts Messi's particular dominance, both in length and impact, on a particular high level compared to others.

He is absolutely right.... More the number of players in a team, lesser the chance to exert dominance! But there's a flip side of the same coin!!
As great as Messi is, the individual players would get to argue saying, "Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man coz I don't have the luxury of having the greatest mid field ever helping me!"

I mean just like how many people under-rate Leo comparing him to the older generation of greats citing the very same reason... Not to mention the arguments where they say footballers have more protection from the refs now or the game is analyzed more now making it easier for the attackers or the infrastructure makes it easier for them compared to the era of Pele or Maradona!