ESPN Top 20 athletes (5NBA players)

[Budadiiii]

LeBron's not on my list

[ShawkFactory]

LeBron's not on my list

Nor mine. Tiger, Phelps, Federer, Pujols, Kobe/Duncan. Take your pick on the last one. Both have a strong case.

Is it comforting for you to lable me a Bran stan? Is it either you hate him or you're a stan?

I don't care either way. Just genuinely curious.

[Papaya Petee]

Messi not in the top 3? Ronaldo or Zidane not in the top 20 at all?

Jordan who played 6 seasons at 1? LeBron over Shaq?

[BigNBAfan]

Golf isnt real.

Go play it... it requires PURE skill..

[ShawkFactory]

Go play it... it requires PURE skill..

Been playing for years. Still can't consistently stay in the 80s. Granted, I haven't played much the past year or so.

[Budadiiii]

Nor mine. Tiger, Phelps, Federer, Pujols, Kobe/Duncan. Take your pick on the last one. Both have a strong case.

Is it comforting for you to lable me a Bran stan? Is it either you hate him or you're a stan?

I don't care either way. Just genuinely curious.

Manning/Brady > Kobe/Duncan

Football > basketball.

[ShawkFactory]

Manning/Brady > Kobe/Duncan

Football > basketball.

I'd give you that. Actually have no idea why they slipped my mind. Too much basketball talk

But you put 2 very notorious juicers on your list.

[Achilleas]

Manning/Brady > Kobe/Duncan

Football > basketball.

yes football>basketball
but
zidane/ronaldo>kobe,duncan

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Manning/Brady > Kobe/Duncan

Football > basketball.

Randy Moss > Brady/Manning if we're talking raw athleticism though, no? I agree that football > basketball, at least for the purposes of this type of list.

If it was an all-time list you'd end up with 3 football players vying for top spot in Bo Jackson, Jim Brown, and Jim Thorpe. Jordan is definitely at least in the running for GOAT basketball athlete but he wouldn't scratch top spot in an overall list across all sports.

[ShawkFactory]

Randy Moss > Brady/Manning if we're talking raw athleticism though, no? I agree that football > basketball, at least for the purposes of this type of list.

If it was an all-time list you'd end up with 3 football players vying for top spot in Bo Jackson, Jim Brown, and Jim Thorpe. Jordan is definitely at least in the running for GOAT basketball athlete but he wouldn't scratch top spot in an overall list across all sports.

Yea but is this list talking raw athleticism?

[Budadiiii]

Randy Moss > Brady/Manning if we're talking raw athleticism though, no? I agree that football > basketball, at least for the purposes of this type of list.

If it was an all-time list you'd end up with 3 football players vying for top spot in Bo Jackson, Jim Brown, and Jim Thorpe. Jordan is definitely at least in the running for GOAT basketball athlete but he wouldn't scratch top spot in an overall list across all sports.

Well we're definitely not talking raw athleticism.

Think of it as best "sportsmen"

QB is arguably the most important position in team sports.

So if you do it this way, without steroid scandal athletes

MJ
Phelps
Brady
Tiger
Zidane (for you salty Euros)

White dudes dominate the sporting landscape and my list proves it. I could easily replace Tiger with Federer and the list would have 4 white dudes.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Well we're definitely not talking raw athleticism.

Think of it as best "sportsmen"

QB is arguably the most important position in team sports.

So if you do it this way, without steroid scandal athletes

MJ
Phelps
Brady
Tiger
Zidane (for you salty Euros)

White dudes dominate the sporting landscape and my list proves it. I could easily replace Tiger with Federer and the list would have 4 white dudes.

I'm alright with that top-5 if we're talking more impact than athleticism. I'll be honest, couldn't really get through the original article, probably missed the blurb explaining their criteria. It certainly explains how Derek Jeter made it.

[PejaTheSerbSnip]

Tiger Woods & Federer should easily be #1 & #2. Their level of dominance in their respective sports were virtually unprecedented. Despite what they've become today, particularly Tiger, they were the best talents of the era. And how the hell is MJ #1? Obviously his final 3-peat is included in that timespan, but really? He played 6 seasons in the last 20 years..and 2 were with the Wizards. Also discounting American bias, there should be many more footballers in the top 20.

Good post. IMO in the last 20 years there's a clear top 5 to me

Woods
Fed
MJ
Zidane
Phelps

And then the rest, in no order
Messi
Ronaldo
Nadal
Kobe
LBJ
Mayweather
Duncan
Brady
Tendulkar
Pujols
GSP
Jon Jones
Lemeiuex
Shaq
Hasek
Roy Jones
Sampras
Karelin (look him up kids)
Djokovic
Greg Maddux
Clemens/Bonds (roids and all)
Bolt
Randy Johnson
Pedro
Manning
Serena Williams (yes, I know she wouldn't even win a challenger title on the men's circuit)
Brazilian Ronaldo

[Budadiiii]

I'm alright with that top-5 if we're talking more impact than athleticism. I'll be honest, couldn't really get through the original article, probably missed the blurb explaining their criteria. It certainly explains how Derek Jeter made it.

For ESPN, it's just a popularity contest, with some respect to their actual sporting dominance

But no, it has nothing to do with raw athleticism. Just who dominated a relevant sport the most.

Phelps dominated swimming, but the olympics are HUGE, and he has the most medals in history. So he's the exception to the relevant sport thing

[24-Inch_Chrome]

For ESPN, it's just a popularity contest, with some respect to their actual sporting dominance

But no, it has nothing to do with raw athleticism. Just who dominated a relevant sport the most.

Phelps dominated swimming, but the olympics are HUGE, and he has the most medals in history. So he's the exception to the relevant sport thing

I agree, Phelps definitely deserves a spot.

It's true that even though swimming on its own isn't relevant it is when it's in the Olympics. It's that magical time when every fringe sport matters for a month or so, and when someone is as dominant as Phelps it deserves recognition.