Who is the greatest athlete of all-time? It’s a great question to ask if you want to ruin a family gathering or a wedding, but there’s no clear cut answer. Ask an American who is the greatest athlete of all-time, and you’ll hear names like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, or Babe Ruth. Hop the pond to Europe, and you’ll get arguments for Lionel Messi and Rafael Nadal.
But, outside of Canada, nobody ever seems to mention Wayne Gretzky, despite the fact that The Great One was more dominant in his sport than any other athlete has been in their respective sports. Not only is he the greatest hockey player in history, he may well be the greatest pro athlete of all-time.
So, is Wayne Gretzky the GOAT of all GOATs? Let’s look at his case.
215 Points
Wayne simply blew his competition out of the water when it came to reliable points scoring.
Wayne Gretzky’s 1985–86 single-season record of 215 points is a mark that most experts agree is nearly impossible to catch. Gretz finished that season 74 points ahead of the next closest player, Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux.
For comparison, in 1986–87, Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 points per game — his most dominant season, scoring-wise — winning the NBA scoring title. But, to win the NBA scoring race by the same margin that Wayne won the 85–86 NHL scoring title by, MJ would have needed to average 43.75 points per game.
Oh, and he would have to win by that margin for six straight seasons, like Gretzky did.
9 Hart Trophies
The Hart Trophy is awarded each year to the NHL’s most valuable player, and Wayne Gretzky has won the honours nine times, including eight in a row from 1979 to 1987. He was named league MVP more times than any other professional athlete in North American sports.
Nine MVP awards. That’s as many MVP titles as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and Tom Brady combined.
1,963 Assists
While Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record for career goals and goals in a single season, his most impressive stat is his assists. Over a 20-year career, Wayne amassed 1,963 assists — more than any other player has total points. He has 57% more assists than his next closest competitor, set-up master Ron Francis.
To equal that pace, LeBron James would have to finish his career with 24,815 assists. He currently has 10,566, and he’s only got a few more years in him.
In football terms, Tom Brady holds the record for career passing touchdowns with 649, but he would have had to pass for 896 touchdowns to beat Drew Brees by 57%.
50 Goals in 39 Games
Fifty goals has been the mark of great goal scorers since the NHL’s first superstar, Maurice “Rocket” Richard potted 50 in 1945. In fact, Rocket put home 50 buts in 50 games, a feat that now denotes a generational sniper.
Well, Gretzky smashed that pace with a record 50 goals in 39 games. He would go on to score 92 that year — also a record.
To equal that torrid pace, Usain Bolt would need to run the 100 metre in 7.8 seconds — nearly two seconds faster than the world record he owns of 9.58 seconds.
In baseball, that would be like if Babe Ruth stroked 40 homers in 77 games.
50 goals in 39 games- I’m not sure if we will ever see that level of dominance ever again.
“51 game point streak” sounds like a stat straight out of a video game- but no, the Great One actually did that.
51-Game Point Streak
There was a point in the 1983–84 NHL season when everybody thought that Wayne Gretzky was probably going to collect a point in every single game. That season, Gretzky put together a 51-game point streak from the season opener on October 5th all the way through to January 27 the following year — maybe he celebrated too much on his birthday the day before.
In that streak, Wayne amassed 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points. If he took the rest of the season off, he still would have led the league in goals, assists, and points, and won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer.
How ‘bout a football comparison?: Imagine the greatest NFL receiver of all-time Jerry Rice had scored a touchdown in 51 straight games, instead of his career best 13 straight games. The NFL record stands at 17 straight games with a touchdown, and is shared by Lenny Moore (1963) and Christian McCaffrey (2023).
So, you know… not even close.
Gretzky is the greatest goat
It’s difficult to compare sports, but I just did. And the way I see it, the level of dominance that Wayne Gretzky displayed throughout his career — particularly between the years of 1981 and 1987 — put him head and shoulders above his peers to a degree unmatched by any other North American sports superstar.
Wayne was so good that he’s the only professional athlete synonymous with his jersey number. Mention number 23 and people will seek clarification — “do you mean Jordan or LeBron?”. But, when we talk about number 99, the only person anybody thinks about is Wayne Gretzky. That is greatness on another level.
As you can tell, I’m getting a little hot under the collar about all of this. Honestly, it really grinds my gears that this is even a question. But, I love Gretzky, and I’ll defend him until he does something weird.
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