I used the following criteria to rank these players: A balance between team success, individual accolades and cultural/social impacts which include on and off the court notoriety.
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NBA
Growing global sport with future potential as a major rival to soccer in a few decades.
- LeBron James: I said this many times, by the time his career ends and after a decade or two, people’s opinions will likely shift and lean toward him being the GOAT due to his overall “body of work,” extreme longevity, his kid(s) playing in the NBA along side him, individual accolades, “era adjustment” and cultural impact. I am accumulating LeBron base and insert cards now which can be bought for maybe less than a quarter per card for the base and a few dollars for many of his current inserts at this point.
- Michael Jordan: One of the greatest of all time, GOAT for some, however, his lack of individual records, relatively short career, having essentially all his accomplishments eclipsed by various players, lack of true social and cultural impact and teams and rely heavily on the myth/legend/charisma will likely mean he won’t be able to continue to bring a wide enough future generation into his “GOAT” camp. I have significantly decreased my position in Jordan cards from over 10,000 cards to almost nothing since the pandemic.
- Kareem Abul-Jabbar: His biggest issue has always been his personality and his polarizing ways akin to Ali due to reasons I won’t say here. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Wilt Chamberlain: The team success was what he lacked the most, more than potential character issues. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Bill Russell: Great team player with great team success but with little individual accolades. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Magic Johnson: An overall great player with a relatively short career. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Larry Bird: An overall great player with a relatively short career. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Tim Duncan: Great player who played for a small-market team. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Stephen Curry: He is not better than Kobe now but by the end of his career, he will edge out Kobe due to his legacy and many other reasons that out of respect for Kobe I won’t detail here. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Shaquille O’Neal: Being on TV a lot definitely increased his cultural impact. He is on this list and not Kobe mostly due to image issues and his dominance as the undisputed greatest pure overpowering center of all-time. When you think about big, overpowering big man, you think of Shaq. Jordan and Kobe are too similar as players for Kobe to be considered as the first thought on most people’s minds when thinking about the NBA guard position. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
NFL
From a global perspective, this sport will likely not have significant growth in the next few decades. For most of the world the sport is just too brutal and reminds them of “American Hegemony.”
- Tom Brady: Great player but will likely will barely be the GOAT in a sport that most players don’t player both offense and defense. Brady’s cards will likely not command the type of true GOAT premium that typically hold true for solid GOAT in other major sports. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Patrick Mahomes: Will likely share a piece of the GOAT titular when his career is over. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Jerry Rice: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Jim Brown: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Emmitt Smith: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Walter Payton: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Lawrence Taylor: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Joe Montana: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Barry Sanders: Great player but not GOAT in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Jalen Hurts: There are only a single digit number of QBs who won multiple Super Bowls in NFL history. Hurts will likely have more passing yards and passing TDs than many of the greatest on that list. Plus his running is a huge plus. This is a fragmented era in NFL History. Yes Rogers, Allen, Aikman, Bradshaw and many others appear to be better than him in certain categories, however, from a pace standpoint, he will likely be an overall better player from a holistic standpoint in the future. I believe his rookie cards are extremely undervalued right now.
MLB
Baseball as a global sports definitely has room to grow due to a variety of reasons including already being popular in parts of Asia and South America. Many countries play sports similar to baseball like Cricket and Lacrosse therefore baseball as a sport probably has a lot of potentials on the global stage.
- Barry Bonds: The records speak for itself regardless of everything else. I own a lot of his rookie cards.
- Babe Ruth: Legendary and a myth. Will probably always be one of the greatest in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Shohei Ohtani: Greatest two-way player ever. Likely will come up short being of the GOAT of the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Hank Aaron: Legendary and a myth. Will probably always be one of the greatest in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Willie Mays: Legendary and a myth. Will probably always be one of the greatest in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Jackie Robinson: Legendary and a myth. Will probably always be one of the greatest in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Albert Pujols: A player getting 700 home runs, 3,000 hits, a championship and without much controversy is probably top 10 worth in MLB for the near future.
- Pete Rose: Great player, I’m not going to talk about the other stuff. Either way, I no longer own the over 1,000 Rose autos I got for a few dollars each….
- Cy Young: The pitching award is named after him. He has over 500 wins….probably an unbreakable record for years to come. He is basically like the MTG Alpha Black Lotus card of MLB pitcher. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.
- Mickey Mantle: Legendary and a myth. Will probably always be one of the greatest in the sport. I personally don’t have significant card position in his cards.