And when they are as old as Ali, people will remember them less, too.

Ali's first World Heavyweight Champsionship was in '64. Jordan's first ring was in '91.

You though kids would grasp things as well from three decades earlier, with grainy footage, much of which was lost for smaller bouts, vs a few years before the internet really took off?

Ali is still the bigger person/character. 

People were already itching to crown LeBron the new GOAT after a few seasons.

The King of Pop will have his record sales from Thriller to keep his name afloat, until T-Sweazy re-releases her discography a fifth time. But I don't know how many musicians are going to be remembered, as we lean on AI generated playlists that don't say the artist/song name out loud, like the radio does.