Up Next

Serena Williams is the greatest of all time

The making of the special ‘Serena with Common’ required true inspiration

1:12

There are three odes to Serena Williams featured in The Undefeated In-Depth: Serena with Common. This one, from managing editor Raina Kelley, sets the tone for Williams’ overall dominance in not just tennis but sports overall.


Conversations with Common: Harry Belafonte


Is Serena the GOAT?

Is she the Greatest of All Time?

Is she one of the greatest of all time?

Please.

Don’t even ask, ‘Who is the GOAT?’

Why are we even having this conversation?Are we having this conversation because she’s a girl?

Please. Stop.

Don’t even ask, “Who is the greatest of all time?”

Unless.

That person has obliterated and then rebuilt the definition of excellence in her sport.

Unless.

That person has been written off as deluded, selfish, boorish, unfocused.

And worse.

Unless.

The reaching the highs and surviving the deep lows of her career are the very definition of courage.

Unless.

Just the sight of her makes your spine shiver because today, Serena Jameka Williams did not come just come to play — she came to slay.

And you are alive to see it.

Is Serena the GOAT?

She reinvented tennis.

She invented #BlackGirlMagic.

She has all of the trophies ever, and she stands for equality of women around the globe.

Is Serena the greatest athlete of all time?

Please.

Raina Kelley is the editor-in-chief of Andscape and is obsessed with Whitney Houston, armchair mountaineering and the MCU, among too many obsessions to count. She also would have made an excellent homicide detective.