Should greatness be measured by championships?

Is greatness related to championships? Does being on a great team mean you are an amazing athlete?  Many sports fans (and athletes!) measure the greatness of a team by how many championships a team has won. In my opinion, how great a team is can be measured by championships but individually it cannot. Let’s say this: Tony Gwynn was one of the best hitters in the history of baseball several years ago but was on one of the worst baseball teams, the San Diego Padres, whom have which won zero world series. It is clear here that Gwynn was a great athlete but because he is on the team, we classify this team as unsuccessful and therefore Gwynn has a negative reputation.

Most fans and sports teams really only care about the final outcome of the game, whether they win or lose, not about how great a certain player is doing at the time. If a great athlete is competing with athletes on their team that aren’t very good, then no their team isn’t so “great” but the individual athletes can be. According to Medical-Dictionary.com, an elite athlete is someone who plays on a professional or varsity team but never does it say an elite athlete is someone who is on a team that wins championships.

I also think that just because an athlete is on a great team, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a great athlete.  For example, the New England Patriots are a great football team and win almost all of their games but that doesn’t mean every one of their players are amazing. There are players who never get to play a game and are always on the bench yet people classify them as great because they are on the Patriots.

Overall, I think we need to be more specific when people are trying to define greatness by championships. Team wise, yes we most certainly can, individually, we cannot.

 

Resources:

https://listosaur.com/sports/10-great-athletes-who-spent-most-of-their-careers-on-bad-teams/