Great

The most cliche terminology in the sports world today is great. Great players on great teams making great plays in great games are what we know as great moments. But what is great? It seems as though anything can qualify as great. But that's not what great is at all. That's only mediocrity. And mediocrity isn't even as good as good, which obviously is far off as good as great. Dictionary.com defines great as: of extraordinary powers; having unusual merit; very admirable. But that still leaves great at question. It looks and sounds very unclear which puts it at jeopardy. Great should be distinguished and should be one of the strongest descriptive characteristics any one can be categorized as.
The concept of great is supposed to be like a beautiful teenage virgin girl. So pure and rare. Like the 8th wonder of the world. We find ourselves shortchange and valuing it because of its amazing beauty. Instead great turned into the school hoe. What once used to be looked upon as magnificent if ever obtained is now mere common. She's nothing special anymore. Because she's been played like a flute so many times she's still pretty nice but nothing to get wet over.
Contrary to popular belief great is averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists as an 18 year old rookie coming out of high school into the NBA. Great is leading your team to the NBA Finals at the age of 22. Great is pouring 50 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists on March 5, 2008 and then 52 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists on February 4, 2009; both in Madison Square Garden. Great is being criticized of how weakly aggressive your ability to score in the clutch is and then scoring 29 of your team's final 30 points (48 in total), including it's final 25 in a double-overtime victory during the Eastern Conference Finals as an opposing player in the Palace of Auburn Hills. Great is leading your team to a 39-2 homestand while finishing with an overall record of 66-16.
Great is scoring 81 points. Great is reaching the NBA finals after being prosecuted of felony rape charges. Great is 4 rings. Great is being the all-time leading scorer for a franchise who has won 14 championships and reached the playoffs all but 5 times in team history. Great is wearing two jersey numbers for the same team with the possibility of having both retired when your career is over. Great is pouring 61 points in Madison Sqaure Garden, where the opposing fans chant "MVP" when you're at the free throw line.
We aren't grateful of greatness. And its about time that changes.