To others, Venus Williams was the supreme player in women's tennis last year after she won Wimbledon, then took the United States Open as an encore.
One Barenboim travels the world working towards resolution of conflict between countries he loves; the other is treating London to a series of concerts amounting to an awe-inspiring musical meditation from a supreme player at the height of his powers.
A winner will be announced and the whole process will be deemed, on the one hand, a joke, a laughing stock, an embarrassment and on the other, a deserving honour for a supreme player who was the obvious choice to any right-minded individual.
Moreover, the military becomes the controlling and supreme player in all affairs of the state including foreign policy, investment and commercial policies, social security and even in the very definition of the rule of law and the limits of legality.
In Wales, it is supreme rugby players such as Barry John and Gareth Edwards who have been accorded a degree of awe unlikely to be extended even to a footballer of Ryan Giggs's calibre.
Nadal and Djokovic have been the supreme male players of 2013 - each compiling at least twice the number of ranking points of the world number three David Ferrer - but for British fans, the most glorious moment came at 17.24 BST on the afternoon of Sunday 7 July.
But it was in Brixton that he followed Ajou and Arek into basketball, transforming himself from a shy and gangling refugee into a supreme young player who, four years later, was on his way again – to America and superstardom.
But last year, Leicester's Selby justified his reputation as a supreme match-player by refusing to contemplate defeat in the final, rising Lazarus-like from 9-6 down against O'Sullivan to win 10-9 and lift the Masters trophy for a second time.
Montgomerie and Pavin were, and are, supreme competitors as players, but cloaked in the blazer-hood of captaincy they seem somewhat less than themselves, neutered almost.
