ESPN top 100 athletes since year 2000

[rogking65]

Yeah by that logic you could have Ngannou, Aspinall, or Emilianenko higher.

His accomplishment are impressive but he lost to Reyes, has one fight in almost 5 years, and popped multiple times. Give me GSP over him any day.

you mussed the point altogether

 

[K1900L]

Well, this ranking is something.

My first impressions:

The ranking is of course highly biased towards North American athletes. Which shouldn't surprise as it was ESPN that has created it.
There are some good and some horrendous takes, and some that are highly debatable.

Michael Phelps being #1 is somewhat understandable considering that he has won the most Olympic medals. But it's a great advantage being responsible only for yourself and having the chance to win multiple medals within the same sport and the same Olympics. That's an advantage most athletes simply don't have.


Serena Williams at #2 is highly debatable. While she is certainly the most dominant female tennis player of all time, she might be the person in the top 20 or so with the easiest path to excellence, because tennis itself is an expensive sport with a relatively low number of participants, but female tennis in general isn't a sport of the masses. Probably 1/2 of the female world population will never have the chance to play tennis even as a simple hobby, let alone competitively. There are like 40-50 countries where women have the resources to play tennis on a high level, and maybe 10 where they have the opportunities similar to those in the US, which makes for a small field of competitors.


For this reason as well, Messi at #3 is rather laughable. He dominated the most played, most competitive sport for a decade and is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time.

To stay on topic: Henry definitely shouldn't be ahead of Zidane, Modric and Iniesta.


Hamilton ahead of Schumacher is insofar correct as Schumacher's success goes back to the 90s. However, if they evaluated Schumacher as a whole, I don't think there should be any F1 driver beating him.


McDavid at #98 is hilarious, though. There hasn't been a player since Lemieux and Gretzky who has been so superior to his peers and put up numbers like he does. Crosby ahead of McDavid is plausible if cups are taken into consideration. But there shouldn't be a gap of 66 spots.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Well, this ranking is something.

My first impressions:

The ranking is of course highly biased towards North American athletes. Which shouldn't surprise as it was ESPN that has created it.
There are some good and some horrendous takes, and some that are highly debatable.

Michael Phelps being #1 is somewhat understandable considering that he has won the most Olympic medals. But it's a great advantage being responsible only for yourself and having the chance to win multiple medals within the same sport and the same Olympics. That's an advantage most athletes simply don't have.


Serena Williams at #2 is highly debatable. While she is certainly the most dominant female tennis player of all time, she might be the person in the top 20 or so with the easiest path to excellence, because tennis itself is an expensive sport with a relatively low number of participants, but female tennis in general isn't a sport of the masses. Probably 1/2 of the female world population will never have the chance to play tennis even as a simple hobby, let alone competitively. There are like 40-50 countries where women have the resources to play tennis on a high level, and maybe 10 where they have the opportunities similar to those in the US, which makes for a small field of competitors.


For this reason as well, Messi at #3 is rather laughable. He dominated the most played, most competitive sport for a decade and is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time.

To stay on topic: Henry definitely shouldn't be ahead of Zidane, Modric and Iniesta.


Hamilton ahead of Schumacher is insofar correct as Schumacher's success goes back to the 90s. However, if they evaluated Schumacher as a whole, I don't think there should be any F1 driver beating him.


McDavid at #98 is hilarious, though. There hasn't been a player since Lemieux and Gretzky who has been so superior to his peers and put up numbers like he does. Crosby ahead of McDavid is plausible if cups are taken into consideration. But there shouldn't be a gap of 66 spots.

Zidane shouldn’t be in the top 100 anyway, his best years were in the 90s and he’s overrated to begin with .

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

6 basketball players before you even get to Crosby LOL

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Hahahaha

 

[KevinRedkey]

Good god you guys complain a lot...

 

[Human]

Zidane shouldn’t be in the top 100 anyway, his best years were in the 90s and he’s overrated to begin with .

I agree with the first part, second part is nuts.

 

[Bombshell11]

Serena #2... sure and Micheal Phelps no1?
How do you put Federer in front of Djokovic?

#19 Diana whoo???

Jokic ahead of Giannis?

What is this list? Its a joke

No1 is Usain Bolt
No2 is Cristiano Ronaldo (athletes right?)
No3 is Messi

Yeah after looking at this list further down, its a complete joke, its a list filled with agendas and propaganda... good thing they called it the ESPN list.. they could of called it also the Mickey Mouse List.

 

[heretik27]

Chris Paul should be nowhere near a list like this. One of the most overrated "superstars" in any sport ever. I have never understood why NBA fans and media fawn over him. At least they didn't put Carmelo Anthony on the list, surprised they didn't to be honest.

The list actually has more Hockey guys than I thought. Figured a list like this would list one of Ovechkin/Crosby but not the other and that'd be it.

Personally, Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace would have had my vote for dominating the fans section at a basketball game all by himself. Can't really expect a panel of "ESPN experts" to really value hockey talent when they don't have any hockey experts to begin with.

 

[brentashton]

When I saw this graph it made me laugh.

View attachment 895788

Half the population of the world is couch potatoes I guess.

Helps when you have 342 events to win every olympics. Hey look a Gymnast too! I bet they only have 1 or 2 chances at a gold per olympics.

Hey look, we get it. If they aren’t named Adam Bighill they shouldn’t be on the list.

 

[Neutrinos]

Chris Paul should be nowhere near a list like this. One of the most overrated "superstars" in any sport ever. I have never understood why NBA fans and media fawn over him. At least they didn't put Carmelo Anthony on the list, surprised they didn't to be honest.

Chris Paul is likely the most underrated superstar in NBA history. In fact, he's so underrated, I'm not sure he ever qualified as a "superstar"

As of the summer of 2023...

16th all-time in PER

6th all-time in OWS

9th all-time in WS

6th all-time in WS/48

6th all-time in BPM

6th all-time in VORP

3x playoff leader in PER & WS/48

2x playoff leader in OBPM & BPM

 

[SettlementRichie10]

It's ESPN. I'd be surprised if anyone there could point to Edmonton (or even Alberta) on a map. He'd be a lot higher if he played in the US.

No one who doesn’t live in Alberta could point out Alberta on a map. It’s like asking someone to point out Lichtenstein.

More people live in most major American cities than the entire population of Alberta combined.

 

[Video Nasty]

A merely good ballplayer like Beltre being slotted at #52 says more about the incompetency of the list than McDavid being where he is. It’s expected that ESPN only knows Crosby, Ovechkin, and McDavid by name.

He’s the 8th position player and 11th overall MLB player on the list, which is madness for someone whose entire case is built off of a couple of really good seasons and pure compiling.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

This is a hilarious ranking for anyone outside of the United States.

Like, literally nobody gives a f*** about Tom Brady outside of the U.S. regardless of how many times he won the U.S. national sport trophy.

The list of best athletes should be about the Olympic golds and sports played worldwide

that’s a really good point. american football is literally a sport that no one outside of the us and canada plays or watches

for how incredibly magnified its importance is in the us, it’s a fart in the wind almost everywhere else

 

[frontsfan67]

ESPN's top 100 professional athletes of the 21st century: Unveiling 1-25

Who tops our list of the top athletes since 2000? We're unveiling the top 25, including our voters' pick for the No. 1 spot.

www.espn.com

So Crosby is 22nd and Mcdavid is way too low at 98. Definite bias against the NHL and way too much love for NFL and tennis. The only other NHL player is Ovechkin at #54 which is too low as well. Yes, this is listed in order as #1 is the best.

Espn doesn’t know a single thing about hockey. Putting wnba players over a guy who has 3 mvps and 5 scoring titles and a conn smythe on a losing team at 98 is absolutely insane.

Crosby should be top 10-20, McDavid and ovi should be in the same tier with ovi ahead as of now in the top 21-30. No way in hell should shohei Ohtani be #11 already.

Very clear what sports Espn favours.

 

[frontsfan67]

that’s a really good point. american football is literally a sport that no one outside of the us and canada plays or watches

for how incredibly magnified its importance is in the us, it’s a fart in the wind almost everywhere else

Pretty sure there’s a league in the UK but I don’t know much about it. Just saw an Eddie hall video. Not as many leagues as hockey, baseball or basketball though that’s for sure.

I agree about football however it’s probably the biggest sport in the US. Look even at college sports for it- they’re even nuttier than the NFL fans. football is definitely a top 3/4 in Canada behind hockey (obviously), basketball and maybe baseball??

 

[Three On Zero]

Pretty sure there’s a league in the UK but I don’t know much about it. Just saw an Eddie hall video. Not as many leagues as hockey, baseball or basketball though that’s for sure.

I agree about football however it’s probably the biggest sport in the US. Look even at college sports for it- they’re even nuttier than the NFL fans. football is definitely a top 3/4 in Canada behind hockey (obviously), basketball and maybe baseball??

An October 2023 survey in Canada revealed that hockey was the most popular sport in the country in terms of interest. Soccer and basketball followed in the ranking in second and third place, respectively.

 

[WatchfulElm]

Phelps won a record 8 Gold medals and broke 7...SEVEN world records in Beijing.

Put that up against anybody. 23 Golds all-time. That dominance has never been seen before, ever.

I get this is a hockey board and McDavid should be higher IMHO but the list isn't that crazy.

Disney had nothing to do with the list. SMDH

EDIT: I'll even stipulate to American bias. I'm sure a group of Japanese writers would have a different list as well. Probably have some Sumo wrestlers on it and a bunch of Japanese baseball players.

If every sport gave as many medals as swimming does, there would be a bunch of athletes with more gold than Phelps. Swimming has 37 medal events, compared with 2 or 3 for most sports. An athlete could be the absolute best in triathlon for 20 years and still end up with only 5 olympic medals. That would still be a much more impressive accomplishment than anything Phelps did.

The amount of medals doesn't matter. It’s how much an athlete dominated his sport compared to his peers that matters.

Also this list is totally awful and US-centric in a pretty laughable manner. So many sports were just totally ignored.

 

[DearDiary]

Former linemate Conner Sheary recalled Crosby assuring him when they were paired together that Sheary was "there for a reason and to play my game." It was the sort of calming presence Sheary needed from Crosby and a gesture he has never forgotten.

Of all the things they could have put there...

 

[Nogatco Rd]

This is a hilarious ranking for anyone outside of the United States.

Like, literally nobody gives a f*** about Tom Brady outside of the U.S. regardless of how many times he won the U.S. national sport trophy.

The list of best athletes should be about the Olympic golds and sports played worldwide

Why though?

I don’t see how Tom Brady’s greatness as an athlete is diminished by the lack of major pro football in Asia. Or Michael Phelps’ by the relative unpopularity of competitive swimming in Africa.

Maybe you would just prefer to see a list using different criteria?

 

[CanadienShark]

Crosby isn't above McDavid and even if you want to make that argument, the disparity is hilarious. I guess McDavid doesn't have enough Olympic medals though.

 

[Block]

If we're talking individual trophies and accomplishments and actual athleticism (in his prime) Ovechkin should be the first hockey player on that list pretty easily and should be well ahead of Jokic and a ton of the others in front of him. Also his office is in the left circle, not the right.

 

[Chet Manley]

There are multiple people on the list that would destroy Williams at tennis. I'm getting too old for this version of reality.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Hilarious amount of America + female athlete bias

There are multiple people on the list that would destroy Williams at tennis. I'm getting too old for this version of reality.

There should be a seperate list for each gender, the current rankings make no sense whatsoever.

 

[FriarChill]

Way too much focus on some main sports imo. Hilarious that none of Björndalen/Fourcade/Bö/Hirscher/Kläbo/Björgen/Froome/Pogacar/... make such a list.