This was my first year watching NBA playoffs but one thing I found a bit interesting is the similarity between how basketball players are judged almost exclusively on titles/playoffs and soccer players increasingly judged mostly on CL/World Cup. For example, let's say Curry is better than Lebron for all 82 regular season games and even the first two rounds of the playoffs, but Lebron dominates the final two rounds and leads his team to the title. Even though Curry might be the "better player" given that he outperformed Lebron 90% of the time, Lebron would probably be judged as having the better season.
What worries me about this trend as a Messi/Barcelona fan is that Messi might have been better than Ronaldo as a player 80-85% of the time over the past 3 years, but Ronaldo still ends up on top for most neutrals because he's been the one performing in more of the big matches and winning the bigger trophies. I thought this World Cup would be Messi's chance to reclaim his status as the clear #1, but he really needs to step up for the rest of the tournament otherwise Ronaldo will be considered the GOAT of this era in most people's eyes at least until the next CL knockout stage.
What worries me about this trend as a Messi/Barcelona fan is that Messi might have been better than Ronaldo as a player 80-85% of the time over the past 3 years, but Ronaldo still ends up on top for most neutrals because he's been the one performing in more of the big matches and winning the bigger trophies. I thought this World Cup would be Messi's chance to reclaim his status as the clear #1, but he really needs to step up for the rest of the tournament otherwise Ronaldo will be considered the GOAT of this era in most people's eyes at least until the next CL knockout stage.
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