I have been struggling to define greatness.
Quite ironic for someone that throws around the acronym G.O.A.T quite often. To be the greatest of all time. That’s heavy. That means something.
For me, greatness has always been an emotion. A feeling you get when you look at someone. Since I was a child, I’ve realized that there are just certain people in the world that demand respect by just being themselves. And I think no one exemplifies this best than in my eyes, undisputedly, the greatest footballer of all time: Lionel Messi.
I remember being six years old watching the World Cup final. I sat in my living room with my father and my mother who had called their 20 person friend group over to our house to watch a small country from South America that they had never visited, never knew the capital of, or ever seen the national flag of, play. I watched as they shook their heads in the 90th minute as Germany scored the only goal of the match. I remember holding my breath with them as Lionel Messi set the ball down at the last minute of the game for one last chance. But most significantly, I remember hearing these words as Messi lined up his freekick:
“The little boy from Rosario, Argentina on behalf of every little boy wearing his shirt. Messi on a million backs, Messi for a million flashbulbs. One kick of the ball, one kick of the football. He has done it before. He had done it before many times at the Nou Camp. Around Spain. Around Europe. He has done it brilliantly for his nation, especially in this competition. He must do it now. Messi must.”
Peter Drury. His words raise the hair on my hands today. Messi on a million fucking backs. Tomorrow Messi will play in the 2026 Fifa World Cup as a champion going for gold again. Tomorrow I will embody Peter Drury’s words as I proudly wear Messi across my back. That is greatness. Lionel Messi is what it means to be great.
The reason I fell in love with Lionel Messi is more than how he plays. More than the other worldly goals he scores or the alien runs he’s made in the past. I’ve fallen in love with Lionel Messi because of his ability to make everybody around him better.
The biggest criticism of the Argentinian team is that Messi has never had support. That in the past they haven’t had big names like the roster of France or Spain. That they’ve always had to solely rely on Messi. And yet, here we are in 2026, calling them the reigning champions. See when players play with Messi, he makes them better. He plays the right passes, opens the right space, draws players away to allow his teammates to shine, and his own ability inspires the people around him to play better. These Argentinian players don’t play for Argentina first. They play for Messi.
And this trait is what I see everywhere in greatness. LeBron James took the most run of the mill Cleveland Cavaliers team to the finals in 2018 by making them better players through the same system. Crucial passes, respect of his own ability. He made them better by being himself. Tom Brady. He made Gronk and Edelman better players through his passes.
These players exemplify greatness not because of their individual ability but because their greatness makes the people around them better. That’s the greatness I choose to believe in.
As I lead teams to launch rockets or even win volleyball games outside my house I want to make the people around me better. I will make them better. I will make them better engineers, better leaders, heck even better volleyball players. Because for some reason I feel like I can sense their potential. Their weaknesses, their strengths. I know I can extract the best out of them. That’s the greatness I want to pursue.