What separates a good Doctor from a great Doctor? What separates a great Doctor from a legendary Doctor?
Experience. Research. Teaching.
Dr. Paley is seen as the GOAT because he has been doing limb lengthening his entire professional life. 67 years old and he's done this for decades. Thousands of patients. Not just cosmetic patients, but trauma patients too. Dr. Paley is the pioneer of LON, which was a huge step forward from external fixators only to using an intermullary nail inserted in the center to help with weight bearing and alignment. He is the man that created that idea back in the 90s and wrote a paper on it(I think it was 90s, maybe 80s I have to check). Dr. Paley has taught other Doctors, from being a speaker at international conferences to training Doctors like Dr. Dong Hoon Lee, Dr. Parihar, Dr. Robbins, and certainly more. As the saying goes, the best way to learn something is to teach it.
Dr. Paley checks every box. That is why he is seen as the GOAT. Here's something to consider though: Age related mental decline. At some point, Paley will retire as hell want to enjoy life as does everyone. Nothing strange about that. But as he enters his 70s, no doubt he will experience some degree of dullness. It happens to everyone. If you want to get LL with Paley, I recommend you do it soon before he 1) Retires 2) Gets too old and his skill regresses. Which isn't his fault, we all age.