WE all have our bragging rights. It’s a fact of life as true as the sunrise.
Michael Jordan’s bragging right is, his being the undisputed GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in basketball because he owns the most number of NBA championships with six as a Chicago Bull in 1991, 1992 and 1993 and 1996, 1997 and 1998.
LeBron James, although some insist he is basketball’s real GOAT, has four NBA rings — two with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and one with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
James’ bragging right?
Not yet retired, James owns the record for most number of points scored in NBA history with 43,440 — and counting. Kareem Abdur-Jabbar is now a far second with 38,387, Karl Malone third with 36,928 and Kobe Bryant(+) fourth with 33,643.
Jordan is No. 6 with 32,292 points behind the still-active No. 5 Kevin Durant (32,597).
Closer to home, Ramon Fernandez’s bragging right, chiefly, is his having won a league record 19 titles in the Philippine Basketball Association. Although he has “only” four MVP trophies in a tie with Alvin Patrimonio against the nine MVP plums of June Mar Fajardo, Fernandez is currently the frontrunner in the GOAT derby in local basketball.
There is this talk that Alex Eala and Serena Williams might meet if they win their preliminary assignments in the ongoing Wimbledon series. That’d be a battle
to behold.
In her young career, Eala, 21, has her own bragging rights already. In barely a year as a pro, she has won two titles. And she has beaten three Top 10 players in one tournament last year (Ostapenko, Keys and Swiatek) before upsetting world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan just recently.
But as for Williams, already a 23-time major winner with a total haul of 73 singles titles, her enormous bragging rights can fill the entire Pacific Ocean.
But she is still human, I tell you.
In 2022, Serena was beaten in the Wimbledon opening round by Harmony Tan, ranked a measly 115th.
Tan is nowhere to be found anymore. Doesn’t matter. With that stinging win over Serena, Harmony has her bragging right
for keeps.
My own bragging rights?
Never mind.
To quote Paul Anka, “Too few
to mention.”
