Is Mcdavid the greatest Athlete in the big 4 Sports since Lebron James?

[The Burdened]

Mike Trout

 

[Daximus]

Some NHL fans have a weird insecurity when it comes to analyzing across leagues/athletes. I think what ur saying is pretty obvious tho and it's no disrespect to any NHLers

Being an NHL player is generally a pretty odd path. Most other pro athletes are multi sport athletes throughout much of their youth. Wheras generally hockey players tend to stick to hockey by the time they hit high school. There obviously some exceptions but especially in Canada most hockey players are strictly hockey players by major junior.

 

[MAB1]

When this topic comes up I always think about what other sports could this person be great at. Lebron would also be one of the greatest NFL players of all-time if he went that route. What else could McDavid do besides hockey that he would excel at?

That is also why I laugh when people say Serena Williams is the greatest female athlete ever. What other sport would she be great at? FloJo, Jackie Joyner Kersey, several WNBA players I believe are/were much better athletes than Serena. Yes she dominated her sport but is she really athletic enough to dominate other sports?

The best athletes are in the NBA. There are a lot of NFL'ers that would rather be in the NBA if they were good enough.

I'd say the NFL has the best athletes. If you were to take NFL and NBA player's of similar heights, outside of the outliers the NFL guys would be stronger, faster, even jump higher.

Compare a guy like Lamar Jackson (6'2) to Curry (6'3) or OBJ (5'11) to Lowry (6'0). Think about the injury problems a guy like Curry has playing basketball...then transport him onto a playing field where half the other team weighs as much as Shaq and is trying to hit you.

Basketball has more freak athletes (Lebron, Zion, Giannis, Shaq) but on average NFL players are the better athletes.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Mike Trout

Correct

 

[1specter]

I'm not saying they're not athletic, just saying that basketball is the easiest, least taxing sport on the body to play.

If you believe this you haven't really played or watched much basketball then. Most players, even the best ones, tend to flame out pretty hard around 32-33, whereas you still see many hockey, soccer and baseball players hang on at that age, and even perform at a high level still. It's getting a bit better with advancements in sports science / medicine, and NBA has also changed to favour more skill and shooting, but even then plenty of guys 30+ can't make it through a full season injury free. Even someone like Steph Curry who plays a more skill-based style focused on shooting and less on driving or going to the net hasn't played a season with 70+ games since 2017. Basketball also has the most volume of explosive movements per game (save for maybe NFL, but an NBA season is 82+ games) and usually athleticism is the first thing that declines heavily with father time.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Some NHL fans have a weird insecurity when it comes to analyzing across leagues/athletes. I think what ur saying is pretty obvious tho and it's no disrespect to any NHLers

NHLers aren't the best athletes, but neither are NBA players.

Soccer's talent pool is over 10x basketball's. Naturally, a bigger pool with output better athletes.

Football selects for strength and speed, while having a comparable talent pool to basketball. Basketball selects for height.

The 99th percentile in male height in the US is 6'4. So 99% of American males are 6'4 or shorter. The average height in the NBA is 6'6.

So the NBA is functionally selecting from only ~1% of American males.

There is usually only a couple NBA players under 5'9. That's the median height in the US. So 50% of American males are functionally outside the talent pool.

An all time great pure athlete like Usain Bolt would transition better to football than basketball.

In terms of pure athleticism, I don't see how basketball can be number one globally.

 

[Sheppy]

If you believe this you haven't really played or watched much basketball then. Most players, even the best ones, tend to flame out pretty hard after 32-33, whereas you still see many hockey, soccer and baseball players hang on at that age, and even perform at a high level still. It's getting a bit better with advancements in sports science / medicine, and NBA has also changed to favour more skill and shooting, but even then plenty of guys 30+ can't make it through a full season injury free. Even someone like Steph Curry who plays a more skill-based style focused on shooting and less on driving or going to the net hasn't played a season with 70+ games since 2017.

While I don't necessarily disagree, I think a lot of reason why those players seem to flame out is because of their sheer size. Being 6'8- 6'10 isn't easy, and you add in the running, jumping etc. Maybe my words weren't right in that regard. I think a game of basketball is a lot harder on the body of a guy that size than a guy who's 6'1'', 185.

Again, could be ignorance as well, but I think it's easier to score a point in basketball than a touchdown in football, a goal in hockey, a goal in soccer.

 

[hamzarocks]

Didn't MJ try the old ball game in his 30's and suck at it? Maybe it's tougher than it looks.

MJ was still the best player in 98 when he retired a 2nd time

He came back for 02 and 03 when he was 39 and 40 and was an all star level player but not previous GOAT level

He did have a knee or some other significant injury in one of those years which reduced his play.

MJ dominated the 80s and 90s

He'd for sure be in a tier with just him and LBj if he played 03-now

He was a stronger, faster, smarter, more athletic Kobe (whose 7th-10th best all time and was a top 2 player in the NBA from 05ish to 2010)

MJ is 1 of 1 though

 

[1specter]

NHLers aren't the best athletes, but neither are NBA players.

Soccer's talent pool is over 10x basketball's. Naturally, a bigger pool with output better athletes.

Football selects for strength and speed, while having a comparable talent pool to basketball. Basketball selects for height.

The 99th percentile in male height in the US is 6'4. So 99% of American males are 6'4 or shorter. The average height in the NBA is 6'6.

So the NBA is functionally selecting from only ~1% of American males.

There is usually only a couple NBA players under 5'9. That's the median height in the US. So 50% of American males are functionally outside the talent pool. If you

An all time great pure athlete like Usain Bolt would transition better to football than basketball.

In terms of purr athleticism, I don't see how basketball can be number one globally.

That's not really how it works though. Yes height is a huge advantage and taller players will generally filter into the NBA, but if you're a shorter player with great talent then you will go as far as that talent can take you to overcome just height alone. Plenty of good players in the 6-6'3 range...Ja Morant is the most electrifying player in the league right now at 6'2, Steph Curry dominated at 6'2 as well, Kyle Lowry and FVV for the Raptors were pivotal to a championship and have been all-stars etc.

Also, while basketball may not have as big of a pool as soccer which is literally the most popular sport in the world, it is far more popular internationally than hockey and especially NFL/American football which is literally only big in the U.S. Basketball is quite popular in Europe and also has a big following in Asia and is growing in South America as well. There are plenty of other professional leagues as well where guys who are less gifted with height play in. It's not just NBA or nothing.

 

[1specter]

While I don't necessarily disagree, I think a lot of reason why those players seem to flame out is because of their sheer size. Being 6'8- 6'10 isn't easy, and you add in the running, jumping etc. Maybe my words weren't right in that regard. I think a game of basketball is a lot harder on the body of a guy that size than a guy who's 6'1'', 185.

Again, could be ignorance as well, but I think it's easier to score a point in basketball than a touchdown in football, a goal in hockey, a goal in soccer.

It's not just the size though, even smaller guys get injured a ton, and part of that reason is because they often have to be even more quick and explosive to be able to fight through and get space against much larger physical specimens guarding them.

Regardless, the repetitive jumping and agile movements are hard on the knees and ankles irrespective of what size you are, there's a lot of quick step, directional changes that happen in basketball and often lead to blown knees, ankle sprains, rolled ankles, tendonitis etc. Just looking at things from a physics perspective, the force and stress generated from jumping outweighs running or skating on its own. Jumping is also not a natural movement that people do daily unless they do it for their sport, so training the body for doing that dozens of times a game takes its toll.

Regarding your second point, I'm not sure what you're getting at there. The scoring is different yes, there is no goalie in basketball so obviously that changes things, but there is a very high level of skill of being able to consistently score. Basketball is meant to be volume scoring, so obviously scoring one basket won't be the same as scoring a goal as the sports are just totally different. I would recommend watching this video below, it's pretty interesting and shows how much skill is required in basketball:

 

[jigglysquishy]

That's not really how it works though. Yes height is a huge advantage and taller players will generally filter into the NBA, but if you're a shorter player with great talent then you will go as far as that talent can take you to overcome just height alone. Plenty of good players in the 6-6'3 range...Ja Morant is the most electrifying player in the league right now at 6'2, Steph Curry dominated at 6'2 as well, Kyle Lowry and FVV for the Raptors were pivotal to a championship and have been all-stars etc.

Also, while basketball may not have as big of a pool as soccer which is literally the most popular sport in the world, it is far more popular internationally than hockey and especially NFL/American football which is literally only big in the U.S. Basketball is quite popular in Europe and also has a big following in Asia and is growing in South America as well. There are plenty of other professional leagues as well where guys who are less gifted with height play in. It's not just NBA or nothing.

6' and 6' 3 are still very large.

They're 84th percentile and 98th percentile.

Curry is small in the NBA, but would be big for the NHL and gigantic in soccer.

The basketball self selection for height drastically reduces the talent pool.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Yea, with his 1 MVP

Username checks out.

Two MVP's in a month or soon.

Plus...2 SB trips. 1 win. SB MVP.

Top 5 in every stat since 2018.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

I just can't get on board with this. I think Basketball is the easiest game out of all the major sports. Maybe that's my ignorance, I can't explain it, really.

Baseball has to be the easiest, some of those guys don’t even burn 500 calories in the span of a four hour game. Basketball is probably next since its such limited contact in its current iteration

 

[1specter]

The basketball self selection for height drastically reduces the talent pool.

Again not really unless you are strictly talking NBA, but people can and still play basketball if they want to even if they're shorter; not everyone will make the NBA but like I said there are dozens of huge basketball leagues around the world in Europe, Asia etc that are far bigger than hockey or American football. There's still an international talent pool that dwarfs that of hockey or American football.

Plus, even NFL and soccer favour certain heights for specific positions within the game. How many short linemen or receivers do you see? In soccer strikers tend to be shorter as the position favours smaller, explosive / agile and skilled players.

 

[PromisedLand]

I don't watch other sports but yes he is because hockey is the best

Hockey is THE BEST SPORT at least for me in the entire world.

- It is fast
- It is physical
- It is emotional
- Goalie can win you games/series or outright lose you games/series. The story lines from this alone can bring joy or anger in the fanbase. It is freakin awesome IMO
- There are fights
- Entertainment value for hockey cannot be beat by other sports as a whole IMO.

Hockey as a sport is just on another level; but when talking about individual/athlete impact on the game; there are other sports where individuals matter more than in hockey.

 

[Matsun]

Usain Bolt and Messi are the obvious answers. Both are greater than Lebron as well.

 

[PromisedLand]

When this topic comes up I always think about what other sports could this person be great at. Lebron would also be one of the greatest NFL players of all-time if he went that route. What else could McDavid do besides hockey that he would excel at?

That is also why I laugh when people say Serena Williams is the greatest female athlete ever. What other sport would she be great at? FloJo, Jackie Joyner Kersey, several WNBA players I believe are/were much better athletes than Serena. Yes she dominated her sport but is she really athletic enough to dominate other sports?

The best athletes are in the NBA. There are a lot of NFL'ers that would rather be in the NBA if they were good enough.

what u talking about? nobody can touch hockey players when it comes to golf

(inside I am crying as a Leafs fan )

 

[jigglysquishy]

Again not really unless you are strictly talking NBA, but people can and still play basketball if they want to even if they're shorter; not everyone will make the NBA but like I said there are dozens of huge basketball leagues around the world in Europe, Asia etc that are far bigger than hockey or American football. There's still an international talent pool that dwarfs that of hockey or American football.

Plus, even NFL and soccer favour certain heights for specific positions within the game. How many short linemen or receivers do you see? In soccer strikers tend to be shorter as the position favours smaller, explosive / agile and skilled players.

Not nearly to the extent that basketball does.

Average height in NFL is 6'2 (96th percentile)
Average height in NBA is 6'6 (99.8th percentile)
Average height in NHL is 6'1 (91st percentile)
Average height in Premier league is 6'0 (84th percentile)

There are 34.02 million men in the US aged 20 to 34. 33.93 million of them are shorter than the average NBA player.

The skew is unbelievably small.

 

[Unsustainable]

How would have McDavid recovered after his PCL injury in 1980s healthcare? Modern sports medicine is allowing players to continue their career with greater efficiency longer in life.

 

[HighAndTight]

Phelps is probably at the top.

 

[Machinehead]

I would say Steph Curry.

The true all-time greats change the game.

The entire basketball world at all levels plays a style that Curry pioneered.

 

[FanCos]

NHLers aren't the best athletes, but neither are NBA players.

Soccer's talent pool is over 10x basketball's. Naturally, a bigger pool with output better athletes.

Football selects for strength and speed, while having a comparable talent pool to basketball. Basketball selects for height.

The 99th percentile in male height in the US is 6'4. So 99% of American males are 6'4 or shorter. The average height in the NBA is 6'6.

So the NBA is functionally selecting from only ~1% of American males.

There is usually only a couple NBA players under 5'9. That's the median height in the US. So 50% of American males are functionally outside the talent pool. If you

An all time great pure athlete like Usain Bolt would transition better to football than basketball.

In terms of purr athleticism, I don't see how basketball can be number one globally.

This is a good post. Ice hockey is a fringe sport, but a very entertaining at that. For a comparison, there is nearly 300M registered soccer players in the world, and a lot more unregistered. There is over 130K professional soccer players. There are more soccer referees in the world than there a professional ice hockey players.

McDavid is a great athlete and would be successful in many other sports, but competes against a miniscule pool of talent compared to truly global sports.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

Two MVP's in a month or soon.

Plus...2 SB trips. 1 win. SB MVP.

Top 5 in every stat since 2018.

Didn’t he lose both big games to Brady? He’s not even in the conversation with bron

 

[ratbid]

I think trying to take a firm stance and say a phenom athlete in one sport is better than a phenom in another is a fools errand. We’ve certainly been blessed with some talent across all the sports. Just looking at the 2000s on you have athletes like Brady, Lebron, Curry, Phelps, Bolt, McDavid, Trout,
Messi, Williams sisters, Federer, Nadal, Biles etc. (I don’t follow cricket but I saw some cricket names pop up as well).

Are we ranking on individual accomplishments vs team, because then Bolt and Phelps have to be ahead? Do we consider Brady’s lack of footspeed or do we consider how good he had to be to overcome that to win everything? Curry changing the perimeter shooting game in basketball, McDavids raw one on one skills and speed.

It’s a fun debate with no answer, but even more fun is getting to watch these athletes pull off things that seem nearly impossible.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Ohtani is the best/most unique talent in all of sports right now.

I think Ohtani is a bit unfair because don’t you think there could have been other baseball players over the years/decades who could have done what Ohtani is doing if they were allowed to pitch and hit at the same time? OR is he really that unique, once in 100 years type of talent?