ESPN top 100 athletes since year 2000

[Albatros]

You know that he competed frequently outside Jamaica, right? Even if you don't trust their testing, he was tested also at Diamond League events etc.

 

[crosbyshow]

You’re waiting just like the drug testers when they arrive to Jamaica.

Answer the question:

Why not a single one cheaters in history came close to Bolt???

Name it..Gatlin, Gay, Johnson, Lewis etc etc.....were like turtle beside Bolt.

Not giving any credit to Bolt is crazy...crazy

 

[John Mandalorian]

You know that he competed frequently outside Jamaica, right? Even if you don't trust their testing, he was tested also at Diamond League events etc.

There’s a reason that random testing exists. Are you not familiar with the reasons or does this really need to be explained to you?

 

[John Mandalorian]

Answer the question:

Why not a single one cheaters in history came close to Bolt???

Name it..Gatlin, Gay, Johnson, Lewis etc etc.....were like turtle beside Bolt.

Not giving any credit to Bolt is crazy...crazy

Right. Just like everyone turtles next to Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens.

Given the same opportunity to cheat, Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds would be regarded as the bests ever in their sport. And then there’s the other side of the coin.

 

[UncleRico]

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

Americas best athletes play football. If they played world wide sports and trained for that from day one instead of football they would be dominant in those sports as well

 

[crosbyshow]

Right. Just like everyone turtles next to Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens.

Given the same opportunity to cheat, Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds would be regarded as the bests ever in their sport. And then there’s the other side of the coin.

Lol..they got caught...and you are right...the truth is Armstrong beat all the drug cheats beside him too like Ivan Basso, Ian Ulrich etc.

In fact on one race the nine others behind Armstrong got caught as well and he still beat their ass every time....

But Bolt never got caught...so .....and he smashed all the others easily even they were on drugs or not.

Nobody in history jacked or not ran better than 9.69...and Bolt ran at 9.58.....

It is a crazy record.

He is the greatest athlete with Messi in the last 30 years


I would have

Bolt
Messi
Phelps

In my.top 3

An other martian.....Ohtani...nobody did what he did in 100 years ..he is a.top 5 hitter and pitcher..unreal

 

[John Mandalorian]

Lol..they got caught...and you are right...the truth is Armstrong beat all the drug cheats beside him too like Ivan Basso, Ian Ulrich etc.

In fact on one race the nine others behind Armstrong got caught as well and he still beat their ass every time....

But Bolt never got caught...so .....and he smashed all the others easily even they were on drugs or not.

Nobody in history jacked or not ran better than 9.69...and Bolt ran at 9.58.....

It is a crazy record.

He is the greatest athlete with Messi in the last 30 years


I would have

Bolt
Messi
Phelps

In my.top 3

An other martian.....Ohtani...nobody did what he did in 100 years ..he is a.top 5 hitter and pitcher..unreal

This logic is unassailable. <sarcasm>

 

[Albatros]

There’s a reason that random testing exists. Are you not familiar with the reasons or does this really need to be explained to you?

That was still 12 tests in the months before the Olympics in the Diamond League alone, hardly a window for PED use.

 

[JackSlater]

I don’t see the issue with Phelps. I would just ask, what could he have done to rank higher in his sport? Nothing. He maximized the level of dominance and success that is reasonably possible in swimming. And swimming is a sport that’s widely played throughout the world, one of the sports that gets down to fundamental athleticism.

To me, Brady is much more a case of American bias. There was only a brief window of time where he was arguably the best QB in the NFL, let alone the best player. He spent a lot of years as a top-10 QB who happened to play on the best team.

I just want to highlight this for a rare case of someone speaking accurately about Brady. Probably more generous than I'd be honestly, but I'll take it.

 

[Ryuji Yamazaki]

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.

McDavid shouldn’t even be on the list

 

[berklon]

Another indication of how little Americans think of hockey.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Another indication of how little Americans think of hockey.

The failure of this comment is that its logic suggests Americans think highly of the WNBA.

 

[Habsfunk]

For every 100 athletes in the world there are definitely fewer than 3 hockey players. I can't think of any who would deserve to be listed apart from those three.

Three hockey players makes sense in a list that considers all sports and the entire world fairly. In a list biased towards American sports, there should be more than three hockey players.

 

[HeadLiceHatty]

I'll have some of whatever the person who made this list is having lmfao.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Lol messi/ronaldo not being top 2 makes this list rubbish.

 

[the]

You would think guys like Malkin, Kane, Kopitar would have made it.

 

[Nasti]

Jordan did win one more title and was the finals MVP each time. Also was both the scoring champion and the defensive player of the year.

Championship count can’t be compared between the two sports because the best player in hockey doesn’t even play half the game whereas in basketball, they play the whole game. Might as well compare championships between Gretzky and Pete Sampras.

 

[Albatros]

Championship count can’t be compared between the two sports because the best player in hockey doesn’t even play half the game whereas in basketball, they play the whole game. Might as well compare championships between Gretzky and Pete Sampras.

For what it's worth Gretzky played more than half the game with some frequency. Jordan averaged 40 minutes at his best.

 

[x Tame Impala]

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?

It takes an insane amount of endurance and physical strength to deal with the hours of G-forces these racers go through. Also their reflexes are required to be excellent as well. It's a flat out physical activity. You're being ignorant.

Kind of off topic, but Americans overrate Michael Jordan big time. Amazing player, no doubt, but there is nothing about his career that is more impressive than Gretzky’s.

5 MVP's
6 Championships & 6 Championship MVPs
10 seasons as scoring leader
9 seasons as first team All-Defense

Hockey and Basketball are too different to get a 1:1 comparison but to say Jordan is overrated is completely asinine as a sports fan. He was completely dominant in all aspects of his game. They each have 10x scoring titles, but imagine Gretzky also being the best or top 5 best defensive player in each of those years as well. Gretzky's dominance is undeniable but some of those stats are inflated due to era.

 

[Soundwave]

Kind of off topic, but Americans overrate Michael Jordan big time. Amazing player, no doubt, but there is nothing about his career that is more impressive than Gretzky’s.

6 titles in his final 6 full seasons as a Chicago Bull is insane. Back to back threepeats basically. 10 straight scoring titles is up there with Gretzky too.

Then add on top of that the spectacular style of play and endless clutch/warrior moments.

Gretzky's last 11 years (post Edmonton) were significantly less impressive.

James Harden being 67th over McDavid at 98 makes zero sense too. McDavid has done more in hockey than Harden has in basketball. Harden hasn't won a title either and has 1 whopping MVP.

 

[Acallabeth]

Wait, I just realized 44 is not Marit Bjorgen (aka 'Winter Phelps' with 15 Olympic medals including 8 golds and a myriad of other trophies), but some American slalomistka

 

[ES]

Also interesting that there are just three track & field athletes - all sprinters.

 

[Letsdothis]

Realistically just be happy that hockey players are even acknowledged. Vast majority of the best hockey players of all time all come from a smallish country of about 30 million.

It's telling that US has basically caught up to Canada in terms of hockey player development even though it's still a fringe sport in US. That's what having 10x the population does.

 

[KW]

ESPN’s own ranking of sports difficulty is:
1. Boxing
2. Ice hockey
3. American football
4. Basketball
5. Wrestling
6. Martial arts
7. Tennis
8. Gymnastics
9. Baseball
10. Soccer

Obviously their top-100 athletes list follows more top name recognition than top athletic/sports capability. It’s like ranking rap artists ahead of classical musicians in musical ability.

Sorry if this was already pointed out, I didn’t go through all 10 pages…

ESPN.com: Page 2 - Sport Skills Difficulty Rankings

 

[Rodgerwilco]

You would think guys like Malkin, Kane, Kopitar would have made it.

Malkin didn't even make the NHL's top 100 list, no way he could crack a list like this. I can't imagine anyone outside of moderately invested hockey fans even know who Kopitar is.

I could see Kane possibly since he's American and EPSN has a bit of a bias, but I still don't think he's known enough to get the recognition.