1. Michael Phelps
2. Serena Williams
3. Lionel Messi
4. Lebron
5. Mr. 18-1 Tom Brady
6. Roger Federer
7. Simone Biles
8. Tiger Woods... 18. Patrick Mahomes
Originally Posted by :
In the end, we received more than 70,000 votes from ESPN contributors to create our top 100. We will reveal 25 athletes every day this week until we reach our No. 1 athlete of the 21st century.
I would have ranked Mahomes a bit higher, perhaps in the top 15. Also hilarious that Brady couldn't even manage to crack the top 3. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HemiEd:
So physical ability is not the defining factor in your opinion?
Phelps is an athlete, but I'm wondering how many gold medeal Usain Bolt would have if the Olympics had a 100m dash, 100m running sideways dash, 100m running backwards dash, a 100m running on one leg dash, and a 100m hop, skip, and jump dash. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
Phelps is an athlete, but I'm wondering how many gold medeal Usain Bolt would have if the Olympics had a 100m dash, 100m running sideways dash, 100m running backwards dash, a 100m running on one leg dash, and a 100m hop, skip, and jump dash.
I think you could make a pretty good case Bolt should be higher on the list as well if Phelps is gonna be that high. Fastest man ever and really nobody has even got close to his 100M time for the past 15 years.
Way more competition in running than swimming too obviously. [Reply]
In defense of Tiger since he's a golfer, I think you have to consider his reach and influence. Before Tiger, golf was a thing middle-aged out of shape Dads would put on to fall asleep to. Tiger single handedly convinced people who had never seen or played golf to watch it over any of the major sports. He was convincing kids, who would probably be playing Baseball or Basketball, to instead pick up a golf club because Tiger made it cool. The next generation of golfers were more trim and in-shape because that's how Tiger trained. He single handedly transformed the game in every imaginable way. That has to count for something, I think. [Reply]
With the Olympics coming up it’s really sad there aren’t more olympians on the list (besides pro athletes like basketball). If this were the late 20th century the list would have tons of them. [Reply]
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
Kobe and Jeter are the most overrated athletes in history.
People talk like Kobe is in the Jordan/LeBron category while in reality he’s a fringe top 10 player of all time.
Who overrates Jeter? He might be overexposed, but I think most baseball fans/experts see him as a top 10 shortstop, which is a rightful place for him. He does have 3,465 hits. [Reply]
