ESPN top 100 athletes since year 2000

[Three On Zero]

No poker players?

They have McDavid at 98, guy is good at “bluffing” for calls

 

[AvroArrow]

None of the WNBA players should be there

James Harden LOL shouldn't be there

I love Jason Kidd but he doesn't belong on that list. There were so many better point guards than him even in his own era, Allen Iverson should be in his spot.

Modric at 55, that far ahead of Zlatan ?

Tons of Soccer players missing, Manuel Neuer absolutely should be on that list, Lewandowski (I like Bayern)

GSP should be much higher than 76

I don't like Jones because of all the PEDs but he should be MUCH higher

GSP and Jon Jones make it, but Anderson Silva isn't mentioned ?

How is Ladainian Tomlinson not on the list ? Arguably the greatest running back ever ?

McDavid at 98 is disrespectful AF

Kohli at 97 is also extremely disrespectful, cricket isn't as big in North America but this guys like the Crosby of it

Shaq at 17 is disrespectful as hell too, he should be above Curry and in the same range is Kobe/Lebron, people really forgot how dominant he was in his prime

How does Gronkowski not make the list at all ? Guy is in the conversation for greatest tight end of all time



Overall isn't horrible but pretty bad with some obvious flaws.

#1 the person who wrote this obviously doesn't watch hockey.

#2 The person who wrote this also obviously doesn't watch MMA

#3 Just realized this is ESPN, like we didn't need further evidence they don't know shit about Hockey/MMA/Soccer

#4 too many female athletes were just forced onto the list, the Williams sisters cool, Simone Biles I don't mind her on the list, a bit too high but sure, but none of those WNBA players should be anywhere near the top 500, forget the top 100.

 

[Albatros]

There's US-centric and then there's this. Why include anyone else at all if you're unable to make it seriously?

 

[Midnight Judges]

Cucumbers are better than Seagulls and I defy any of you n00bs to prove otherwise.

 

[islandersbob]

I see the point but Lidstrom would be way down the list. Another current Redwing would be higher than him if it included a few more hockey players..

Bare minimum for hockey players (not including women, because of course ESPN never would)
would be:

Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid, Lidstrom, Brodeur, Kane, and one of Kucherov, MacKinnon, or someone else.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Canada has ten provinces and three territories. If you can't take a stab at it and at least come close, you're about as bright as the folks that made this list.

“Somewhere in the middle-ish” is not a fair guess.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

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

And now you want to watch the summer Olympics?

Guess what, it's a week from now, looks like ESPN knows when to drop a list like this........

 

[SillyRabbit]

An NBA comparable for McDavid would be Jokic who is 28th, so at the very least McDavid 70 spots too low.

 

[T REX]

An NBA comparable for McDavid would be Jokic who is 28th, so at the very least McDavid 70 spots too low.

Seems like there is a lot of weight for Gold medals, individual titles(Masters, Wimbeldon, etc) and Championships.

I do think he is too low though so I agree there.

For the people complaining about the women WNBA, Diana Taurasi, for example, is going for her SIXTH GOLD MEDAL.

Sixth. That probably has something to do with it. Oh, and three straight national titles. Wow. And 3 WNBA titles.

 

[Borgir]

This list needs some Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Needs some Trump too!

 

[SlafySZN]

On the other hand, the Olympics are every 4 years so there’s a lot of pressure to perform well in those events.

Yes and a gymnastic athlete’s career last around 26-27 years old. So about 2-3 olympics.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

Auto racers are not athletes. It takes a tremendous amount of skill but an engine is propelling the car. I mean come on here. Are people partaking in an athletic endeavour while commuting to work every day?

 

[SlafySZN]

& I dont want this to come off as misogynistic but while the WNBA players are great athletes, they aren't better than a good chunk of male athletes.

(Yes, some 350 pound Offensive Lineman probably isn't a better overall athlete, but there are plenty of other guys in both the NBA and other sports that are)

It’s the accomplishments in their respective careers. Most of those WNBA players in the list are women who helped grow the sport and that are 4-5 gold olympics medalists with multiple championships won in the league.

 

[zar]

7 WNBA players, multiple NFL/NBA/MLB guys that won’t even go down as top 10 in their position in their sport.

Then you have 3 hockey players who are going to go down as top 10 ever players all time in their sport and one of them is ranked 98th.

ESPN is about as professional as the NHL… so I’m not really surprised by this list.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

Having WNBA players on this list is the equivalent of telling a 5 year old their drawing is good. Sure, maybe in relation to other 5 year olds but not when comparing it to the work of an actual artist. You're just lying to them to make them feel better.

 

[Ceremony]

Auto racers are not athletes. It takes a tremendous amount of skill but an engine is propelling the car. I mean come on here. Are people partaking in an athletic endeavour while commuting to work every day?

If you drive to work at 200 miles per hour, maybe.

 

[Harry Waters]

I always wonder why those lists get framed this way. Just don't call it "100 top athletes" and then have biases all over the place. It is ok to focus on North America, just don't pretend you are not doing it. And I get the more-clicks-more-revenue angle, but people would click these lists regardless, you just then realize it is borderline insane.

So if I get that right, more than half of the top 100 athletes are from Basketball (at least a somewhat global sport) and then American Football and Baseball of all sports. If you want to argue that somehow all the best athletes end up in total niche sports, go ahead, but that is completely absurd. What could possibly be the argument for that? I can't even make one up. 12 American Football players, a sport, that is played professionally in basically one country (yes, I know there is a league here in Europe). And multiple WNBA players, drawing from a talent pool that is, well, comparable to maybe a single small European county's Football (Soccer) talent pool. I am just bewildered that people are paid to do this.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I always wonder why those lists get framed this way. Just don't call it "100 top athletes" and then have biases all over the place. It is ok to focus on North America, just don't pretend you are not doing it. And I get the more-clicks-more-revenue angle, but people would click these lists regardless, you just then realize it is borderline insane.

So if I get that right, more than half of the top 100 athletes are from Basketball (at least a somewhat global sport) and then American Football and Baseball of all sports. If you want to argue that somehow all the best athletes end up in total niche sports, go ahead, but that is completely absurd. What could possibly be the argument for that? I can't even make one up. 12 American Football players, a sport, that is played professionally in basically one country (yes, I know there is a league here in Europe). And multiple WNBA players, drawing from a talent pool that is, well, comparable to maybe a single small European county's Football (Soccer) talent pool. I am just bewildered that people are paid to do this.

It almost seems intentionally bad in order to troll and see the reaction. If it was less provocatively bad, maybe no one cares as much?

Weirdly, they actually specify “professional” athletes in their own title, yet their list seems to put significant value on onlympic gold medals. Then they also seem to include accomplishments before 2000 for some but not for others.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I know people hate him but LeBron should be #1. An actual freak of nature athlete. He could have picked football or tennis or swimming and would have dominated them all.

Auto racers are not athletes. It takes a tremendous amount of skill but an engine is propelling the car. I mean come on here. Are people partaking in an athletic endeavour while commuting to work every day?

A car that if they lost control of for longer than one second they could easily die. Racers burn an insane amount of calories with the amount of focus it takes.

So do Esports players.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I know people hate him but LeBron should be #1. An actual freak of nature athlete. He could have picked football or tennis or swimming and would have dominated them all.



A car that if they lost control of for longer than one second they could easily die. Racers burn an insane amount of calories with the amount of focus it takes.

So do Esports players.

No. It can’t be assumed he would have dominated at football. Not everyone can handle the contact.

Also, LeBron had to team hop to win. He’s essentially a PG who doesn’t always make others better. Dwayne Wade, for example, has admitted he had to dial down his game so LeBron could thrive. He doesn’t have any definitive skill. He’s not a high level three point shooter. Doesn’t have a mid range shot. Doesn’t have a fadeaway. He’s not reallly very good with his back to the basket, especially for his size. Magic could actually play C and it seems like that was the plan for LeBron in LA when they brought in Rondo that first year - but LeBron is a one trick pony. Curry, Duncan, and Bryant each have at least as many rings (more depending on how you view the covid year when no one wanted to be there), while not team hopping to do it.

Also, there’s the matter of his agency, Clutch Sports, paying people in the media to force LeBron into GOAT discussions. They might have actually paid someone at ESPN to have him as high as #4.

 

[ColbyChaos]

It’s the accomplishments in their respective careers. Most of those WNBA players in the list are women who helped grow the sport and that are 4-5 gold olympics medalists with multiple championships won in the league.

Grow the sport? Brother majority of people didn’t even care until this season

 

[Overrated]

From what I've seen Lionel Messi has been the most impressive, by far to be honest. Haven't seen most of the athletes on the list because I don't follow all of the sports though. I think it's extremely biased towards female athletes and that's on purpose of course. Besides Serena and Simone Biles there shouldn't be any other female players on the list in my opinion. McDavid should definitely be higher.

 

[Macman]

Do you guys actually read what the list is about? It is from 2000 until today.

How in gods name would a dude that only has about 8 seasons with no international or NHL championships get above a dude with 3 Stanley cups, 4 appearances, 1 Olympic gold along with various other accolades. Who has been doing it for damn near 20 years now and was almost as dominant as McDavid in his prime…..

McDavid is too low but should not in any scenario be above Crosby on this list.

Two Olympic golds.

 

[waitin425]

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.

5 NBA players and a WNBA player before a single NHL player.

What a joke. Not worth the read.

 

[Hasbro]

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

The NFL is the largest single league in the world.