2024 WPH: The Greatest of All Time

It's the ultimate bar stool argument...
The World Players of Handball (WPH) is a 501(c)3 Non Profit Foundation whose mission is to grow the game of handball through innovation.
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[@andrewreiersen]

It's hard to imagine anyone being able to touch prime Paul Brady. So enjoyable to watch. His court intelligence, shot selection, focus, foot positioning, finesse and execution is mind blowing. He has it all. He is the guy to watch to study the game. Great job as usual putting this together WPH. Keep up the great work!

[@StevenTamminga]

Anna Christoff has to be in the goat conversation.

[@weplayhandball]

This generation just did not watch her play. It's unfortunate because she's definitely on Mount Rushmore

[@gsjackson34]

It comes down to Naty Sr. v. Brady, not just in terms of accomplishments, but also, I think, ability. Fred Lewis, who arguably belongs on handball's Mt. Rushmore himself -- six national titles when handball was at its peak of participation, two of them against Naty Sr. when he was in his prime -- believes Naty would win, and I agree. Maybe we're biased toward our own generation, but here's the case. All due respect to Killian, but maybe he's getting Naty Sr. confused with Junior. He says Brady would dominate Sr. in terms of strength and physicality??? Naty was a good-sized guy and hit the ball every bit as hard as players today with both hands (he was naturally ambidextrous). He was as quick as anyone who ever played. While he helped pioneer the all-out two-handed shooting game, he was also adept at a couple of features prominent in the game he entered in the early '70s -- hooks and defensive handball. The hooks are the main reason Fred and I give the edge to Naty -- his serve was significantly better than Brady's. Certainly when the black ball was being used it was much easier to hop the ball, and you couldn't hit it with the same velocity as today's ball. Even when we switched to a livelier blue ball -- I believe in 1979 -- it still wasn't as lively as today. So Naty had to develop other aspects of the game besides balls-to-the-wall, two-handed offense. So how would he do in today's game, where almost everything is hard and low? Well, one thing you notice about today's game at the highest level is how many of those hard, low shots come around off the back wall. The vast majority of players don't have the footwork or quickness to get set up on those balls and shoot them, but Naty certainly did. He would feast on a steady diet of back wall shots. As for two other key Brady advantages against pretty much everyone -- training and motivation. Naty didn't train as extensively as Brady, but he was into long-distance biking and always had plenty of gas in the tank. As for motivation, he was probably the one player who could match Brady's. He was feeding his family for years on earnings from the pro tour. But maybe I'm misremembering. John Bike Senior, who was related by marriage to Naty, thought Brady would win easily. Who knows? It would be fascinating to see them play each other in their primes.

[@weplayhandball]

Agree- DV