Paul McNamee considers Novak Djokovic the greatest of all time but he hasn't called him that yet out of respect to Rafael Nadal.
There aren't many great things about the era of the Big Three ending, but one could be that the GOAT debate won't be recycled as much. Or so you think. The reality is that it's going to be a question for as long as tennis is being played.
It doesn't matter whether Djokovic dismisses it, it doesn't matter whether Nadal 'doesn't care' about being GOAT, it's never going to go away as a topic. Unless something drastic happens which of course is possible no matter how likely. After Djokovic won the 23rd, the topic resurfaced again. It always happens after every grand slam because every grand slam alters the legacy of all players involved.
Players like Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Marin Cilic see their legacies boosted with every win a big three player has. After all, these are some of the contemporaries that were able to beat those players and win grand slams when they dominated so that makes it even more impressive.
In any case, Paul McNamee, a man who watched the Big Three since they arrived in tennis has his mind made up as well. He's not the only one but he's refrained from proclaiming Djokovic of being the GOAT. He will wait for Nadal to retire next year out of respect for the Spanish legend. He shared it on Twitter.
I haven’t yet ‘called’ Novak as the GOAT, for the simple reason that Rafa, unlike Roger, is not retired. Albeit unlikely, it is still possible for him to get to the highest # on the most important metric.. being 24 plus Slams. So, out of respect, I am not ‘calling it’ just yet.
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