The case for sports' greatest No. 8: Kobe Bryant? Lamar Jackson? Alex Ovechkin?

New York Times

04-04-2025

By Scott Dochterman, Sean Gentille, Jeff Gluck, Jason Jones, Pablo Maurer, Rebecca Tauber, Levi Weaver and Jeff Zrebiec
It's a fight over the number eight.
On Wednesday, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson challenged NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. over Earnhardt's pending trademark of a stylized No. 8 used for his JR Motorsports race team. On Friday, Earnhardt said on social media that he had secured the rights to the classic No. 8 style he raced in the early 2000s and planned to retire the other No. 8 font (the one under protest from Jackson).
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In July of 2024, Jackson challenged retired quarterback Troy Aikman over Aikman's attempt to trademark 'EIGHT' for his brand. Jackson has a brand featuring the number called 'Era 8.'
We're not qualified to weigh in on the nuances of copyright law. But we are qualified to debate who's the greatest No. 8 of all time. We asked seven Athletic writers across sports to make their case: Who's the GNEOAT to top all GNEAOTs?
It's tough to make cross-sport comparisons, but hear me out, because baseball would like a word. Perhaps you've heard of Carl Yastrzemski, who wore No. 8 for 23 years in Boston. In eighteen of those 23 years, he was an All-Star. And from 1967 until 2012, he was the only hitter to win the Triple Crown (leading home runs, batting average and RBIs).
Then there's Cal Ripken Jr., who broke Lou Gehrig's unbreakable streak of 2,130 consecutive games without a day off — and then extended his lead by three full seasons, finishing at 2,632, all with the Orioles. And we can't leave out Joe Morgan, who won two MVPs and helped the Reds to two championships. His 100.6 bWAR leads all other No. 8s in the sport.
But maybe the biggest cultural icon of the bunch was Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, whose 'Yogi-isms' defined the sport in unique and often surreal ways as he helped the Yankees to 10 World Series championships. As a manager, he took both the Yankees (1964) and Mets (1973) to the World Series. Given his contributions to the sport on and off the field, I think he's my pick (but if you wanna talk me into Yaz, I'm listening). — Levi Weaver, staff writer
Only a handful of players have retired jerseys. How many do you know with two retired jerseys?
Kobe Bryant wore No. 8 from 1996-2006, then switched to No. 24 until he retired in 2016, but his time wearing No. 8 has more iconic moments than most athletes have in their entire careers.
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That was back when Kobe threw the iconic lob to Shaquille O'Neal to help complete a fourth-quarter comeback in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals, which led to the first of Bryant's five championships. No. 8 Bryant won three titles. That Bryant also scored 81 points in a 2006 game against Toronto — second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 in 1962 — and also won a slam dunk contest, becoming the youngest player to do so at 18, all while wearing No. 8, only helps strengthen his case.
Bryant won two more championships, a regular-season MVP and two NBA Finals MVPs wearing No. 24, but his impact was so great wearing No. 8 that the Lakers retired both, making him the only Laker with two numbers retired.
He went from youthful enthusiasm to superstardom. Few impacted sports and culture like Bryant did for the Lakers. — Jason Jones, staff editor
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s autobiography about his rookie season in NASCAR is called 'Driver #8.' Since its publication in 2001, the passage of time has only made that nameless association stronger.
Yes, Earnhardt stopped driving the No. 8 car after 2007 and switched to the No. 88. No, he never won a NASCAR Cup Series championship.
But there has never been a more popular driver in NASCAR history, no one who had the ability to be the 'home team' for millions of fans like Earnhardt did while transcending the racing world. He was featured on 'MTV Cribs,' presented at the VMAs during the award show's prime and was profiled in 'Rolling Stone' and 'Playboy' in the golden age of magazines.
Even if he's not the highest profile No. 8 for mainstream sports fans, he might have the most passionate group of followers. There's likely no fan base that has inked more No. 8 tattoos in an athlete's honor than the denizens of 'Junior Nation.' — Jeff Gluck, senior writer
In soccer, Spanish midfielder Andrés Iniesta wasn't just a great player — he fundamentally redefined what it meant to be a midfielder.
Before Iniesta burst into stardom at Barcelona, the middle of the park was for bruisers, with only a handful of players bothering to do the work with brains, not brawn. Iniesta was a different player entirely. He was the ultimate metronome, toying with the pace of the game at will. Along with fellow Barcelona legend Xavi, Iniesta relied on his guile, his vision and his inch-perfect distribution more than any particular physical characteristic. His understanding of the game rivaled that of a previous Barcelona legend, Johan Cruyff, and Iniesta possessed some traits that surpassed him.
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Iniesta won every trophy imaginable with Barcelona — four Champions League titles to go along with nine La Liga titles. More than anything, though, he'll be remembered for what he did while representing Spain — particularly the extra time goal that gave La Furia Roja their first-ever World Cup championship in 2010. Iniesta was never a prolific goalscorer, but in many ways, the last-gasp strike was vintage Iniesta: calm, composed, perfectly placed. The goal made Iniesta a national hero in Spain. Across the entire footballing world, it solidified his place as the game's greatest ever No. 8. — Pablo Maurer, staff writer
The NFL is king. We are reminded of that annually when television ratings come out. And Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson isn't just one of the faces of the NFL. With his unique style, he's redefined how we view quarterbacks, the most glamorous and integral position in professional sports.
Jackson, in just seven seasons, has already done things that we've never seen before. The accolades and records — the two MVPs and what easily could have been a third, the unprecedented 4,000-plus passing yards and 800-plus rushing yards in one season — are impressive. But it's how he's done it that elevates him into another stratosphere.
This is an athlete who has constantly been told what he isn't or what he can't be. Most teams didn't believe he had the goods to be an NFL franchise quarterback ahead of the 2018 Draft. When there was an opportunity to potentially sign him two offseasons ago, 31 other teams stayed away.
Yet Jackson has never wavered, never changed to try to be someone else or acquiesced to criticism. He is unapologetically who he is, and that's one of the most captivating and interesting personalities in professional sports. — Jeff Zrebiec, senior writer
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College football has three players vying for the top spot as Mr. 8, and Jackson is in the running on this one, too. In three seasons at Louisville, Jackson passed for 9,043 yards and 69 touchdowns while rushing for 4,132 yards and 50 scores. Few players could match Jackson's on-field theatrics, which is pretty much what we could say about his NFL impact nearly a decade later. Jackson won the 2016 Heisman Trophy and finished third in 2017.
Former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is right there with Jackson. While his NFL career never reached the heights many projected, Mariota was unreal in college. In 2014, Mariota threw for 42 touchdowns and only four interceptions while completing 68.3 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 770 yards and 15 scores to win the Heisman. Mariota led the Ducks to a runner-up finish in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
Observers cannot overlook TCU quarterback Davey O'Brien, who won the 1938 Heisman Trophy. O'Brien was perhaps overshadowed historically by predecessor Sammy Baugh, but O'Brien guided the Horned Frogs to an unbeaten season and the national title. He was the first player to win the Heisman, Walter Camp and Maxwell trophies in the same season. These days, college football's top quarterback is annually given the Davey O'Brien Award.
So, who is college football's top No. 8? It's Jackson. If someone began a list of college football's most explosive players, it starts with him. — Scott Dochterman, staff writer
I feel like I need to defend myself preemptively. I'm not trying to be a prisoner of the moment, and I don't think I'm a hockey provincialist. That being said, Alex Ovechkin isn't just the best NHL player to ever wear his number — he's the best athlete to wear it, period.
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This isn't a knock on NFL's Jackson. By the time his career is over, he might take the belt. As it stands, though, Ovechkin has the same number of MVPs, and a Stanley Cup championship and, depending on when you read this, more goals than anyone in the history of the NHL (as of publication, Ovechkin is three away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record). That's kind of the whole point of the sport. Now, if Jackson lands as the all-time leader in touchdowns or yards from scrimmage as a QB, we can talk. Until then, though, Ovechkin has him beat.
The rest of the competition is flawed in one way or another, too. Berra is an American icon and, perhaps, the best catcher of all time — but he's not in the overall GOAT conversation. Ovechkin is. Bryant would have a claim if he didn't switch numbers after just 10 seasons. Ovechkin did no such thing. The battle for silver is interesting. First place, though, is locked up. — Sean Gentille, senior writer