Роддик о спорах, кто в Большой тройке величайший: «Это как раздавать «Оскары» до того, как досмотрел фильм»

трактовка всегда будет одна как правило:

His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."[7] He was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

Nicknamed "The Great One",[1] he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. ( In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award. That same year, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful domestic league goal-scorer in football history scoring 650 goals in 694 League matches, and in total 1281 goals in 1363 games, which included unofficial friendlies and is a Guinness World Record. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world.)

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers ever
... Schumacher was "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen" at the time of his retirement from the sport.
...

many consider Karpov one of the greatest players in history (но тоже их с Гарри можно назвать "статистическими" ГОАТАМИ ... ибо 100-150 лет назад Ласкер и Стейниц были не хуже, если не лучше и вполне себе все (в)четвером БИГ-4 всех времен и народов)
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Many consider him the greatest violinist of all time.
(Jascha Heifetz)

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist of Russian-German origin, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.
(кому Горовиц, а кому Аррау по ощущениям)

He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.
(Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky)

Christina Nilsson - Adelina Patti _ rivalry
*bel canto technique
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Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress who was a leading lady in Hollywood for more than 60 years.
...
In 1999, Hepburn was named by the American Film Institute the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. She was known for her fierce independence and spirited personality.

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as the "best actress of her generation"

With a career spanning 60 years and 100 acting credits, she is regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history.
(Bette Davis)

итого: лучший в кавычках или один из лучших (или лучший в старой школе или лучший в новом периоде спорта (футбола ... той же Лиги Чемпионов) ... так и допускают, что одного лучшего не может быть из прошлого, они есть в настоящем и будут в будущем и по_принципу равенства они должны быть все на равных, что Тони Уайлдинг/Билл Тилден/Дональд Бадж ... что Род Лейвер/Роджер Федерера (Надаль, Джокович), что их "потомки")

Все трое великие, но Федя величайший по вкладу в теннис во всех аспектах.