As sports fans, one of our favorite things to do is routinely debate who are the greatest coaches and players and what are the best games.
With March Madness canceled, ESPN is providing us an opportunity to argue who is the greatest college basketball player ever. They’ve put together a 64-player bracket that ranks and matches up the best men’s and women’s college basketball players in the history of the game.
According to ESPN's bracket, the number 1 seeds are Lew Alcindor, Breanna Stewart, Christian Laettner, and Bill Walton. Other players of note are Michael Jordan (2 seed), Cheryl Miller (3 seed), David Thompson (4 seed), and Brittney Griner (13 seed).
I think the players with too low of a seed are Pete Maravich (13 seed), David Robinson (11 seed), and Tim Duncan (10 seed). They should be ranked better than that!
Also, in my opinion, ESPN shouldn't have included players who only played one year in college, even though Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant were awesome during their lone year.
Based on the players I’ve watched during their careers, my votes would be for JJ Redick, Tyler Hansbrough, Steph Curry, Shane Battier, and Kemba Walker.
JJ Redick was an unbelievable shooter at Duke. Every time he touched the ball, regardless of where he was on the court, it had a chance to go in. Making him an 11th seed when he's the leading scorer in Duke history is outrageous to me!
Each of us has our standard and perspective, and place value on certain aspects of a player’s game when giving our argument to the question, "Who is the greatest of all time (“G.O.A.T.”) in college basketball?"
This intriguing question of who is the greatest isn't exclusive to sports and has been around since Jesus walked the earth. While involved in His amazing work, the disciples were recorded as saying in Matthew 18:1 (NLT), “About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?’”
There's something inherent that causes us all to wonder who is the greatest, and even the disciples had their reasons for asking this question. They were most likely concerned about where they stood in line with one another…and probably wanted to know how they compared to each other in the eyes of Jesus.
Although they had their reasons, Jesus quickly squashed their motivations in Matthew 18:2-4: “Jesus called a little child to Him and put the child among them. Then He said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.'”
His lesson on humility being the key characteristic in God’s kingdom is one that we can learn from today. Instead of getting caught up in our accomplishments, power, and abilities, Jesus wants us to be like children who are dependent, teachable, and lowly. Our desires will become more about serving and obeying – not driven by the world’s standard of greatness.
To truly become humble, we must realize our weaknesses and brokenness and need for Jesus. What’s interesting, too, is that pursuing service and humility removes the motivation or concern about being great!
As we have fun debating college basketball’s G.O.A.T., let’s also consider Jesus’ description of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s pursue a childlike faith and humility while being devoted and dependent on our loving Heavenly Father.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I trust in You and I'm humbled by Your love and grace. Help me not to worry as much about worldly greatness, but rather be great in Your eyes. Please show me the ways I can serve and be a blessing to others. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
In what ways have you been pursuing the wrong kind of greatness?
What characteristics of a child do you desire to develop more?
留言