Additonally Gladwell is talking about mastery or expertise. Not immortal fame. A kid who becomes good enough to play basketball in the NBA, and maybe make the all star team one year, certainly has developed a level of mastery in the game few ever achieve. But he's the forgotten player, compared to Lebron, Kobe, Magic, Larry, or Michael.

There's a difference between being the best among the masters and simply being a master.