OT - Greatest Athletes of All Time

Submitted by Clarence Beeks on
Did anyone else catch the incredibly absurd thing (in my opinion) said by the NBC color commentator after the men's 100M final last night: "The list of greatest athletes of all time has to be Ali, Jordan, Bolt...and maybe Michael Phelps." My take: For real NBC guy? If Michael Phelps isn't on the list of greatest athletes of all time there should be no lists. What the...? So what say you? What's your list of greatest athletes of all time, all sports?
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UMQuadz05

August 15th, 2016 at 7:39 AM ^

I thought that was weird too. The two X factors IMO are 1. Different skills mastered and 2. People who care about your sport. Phelps suffers on both of those; meanwhile I hear that this Pele guy was pretty good.



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ijohnb

August 15th, 2016 at 8:20 AM ^

doesn't, but an athlete's cultural significance is relevant to his status as an athlete in this kind of discussion IMO, and the popularity of the sport has a bearing on that significance.  It was one of many factors and not more significant than others, but it is a factor.  Others may disagree.

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MaizeAndBlueWahoo

August 15th, 2016 at 1:13 PM ^

You can't seriously think Phelps didn't master a really wide variety of skills.

The guy could dominate every stroke and almost any distance he cared to.  This would be like if Tom Brady was not only an all-time great quarterback, but also left guard, defensive tackle, cornerback, and wide receiver.

You can tell who doesn't know much about swimming by the fact they think every stroke and distance is the same.

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superstringer

August 15th, 2016 at 7:41 AM ^

Dude dominated a single, 10-second event. Its one discipline. Involves speed and thats it. No one will mistake him for being an all-around athlete.

I dont know if he tried out for the NFL. He is a huge Manchester United fan and has practiced with them, so if he was any kind of athlete he'd be in the EPL.

Phelps dominates huge numbers of athletes in a sport requiring a lot of all-around athleticism. Bolt is great be he is NOT a GOAT athlete. Fastest human ever? Sure. But thats it.



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Hab

August 15th, 2016 at 7:52 AM ^

The GOAT label is thrown around way too much by a society desperately searching to validate itself by measuring it's ability to out-achieve or out-perform what has gone on before--or by a media desperate for viewership and/or clicks.

It's almost like watching what Bolt did last night and not being able to appreciate it for what it was simply because someone might come by twenty years from now who can run .01 second faster.  Doing it again and again over time only shows that someone can maintain their level of excellence over time, which he might not have been able to do had he competed fifty years ago.  Who is to say that former greats, if transplanted to today wouldn't achieve something just as great or even greater?

Appreciate the games and what is happening for what they are and be satisfied.  Maybe when time is done away with, we can finally get down to sorting out who really was the GOAT.

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ijohnb

August 15th, 2016 at 8:10 AM ^

Muhammad Ali was a heavyweight with the hand and foot speed of a welterweight.  He was a freak of nature.  He came along at a time when boxing was entering the peak phase of its popularity and competition and won over 60 fights.  His victory over Foreman was absolutely legendary and defied comprehension at the time and his rivalry with Joe Frazier was the most iconic individual rivarlies in the history of sports.  He was the best boxer on the planet during two almost entirely seperate careers interupted by 4 years in exile, and actually never fought one single fight in the prime of his career.

You may not appreciate Ali for other reasons, and there is reason for debate as to his actual character out of the ring, but not in it.

We shouldn't even really be discussion GOAT until we beat MSU or OSU anyway.

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ijohnb

August 15th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^

had one hell of a left hook but he was not better by any stretch.  Ali took two of three (the one loss his first significant fight after 4 years) from him and Foreman disposed of Frazier in 3 minutes only to lose to Ali months later.

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Late Bluemer

August 15th, 2016 at 1:59 PM ^

Too many of these lists suffer from the recency effect leading to older athletes being overlooked.  Jim Brown was not only perhaps the greatest running back of all time but also maybe the top lacrosse player of his era as well -- to the point where they actually changed a rule of the sport which inhibited his ability to move down the field and score (or so the story goes).  I think that is what separates Wilt Chamberain in basketball -- where they expanded the lane to make it more difficult for him -- versus Jordan -- whereas the "Jordan rules" on offense which made it easier for him to dominate offensively are legendary as all '80s and '90s era Pistons fans know.

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El Jeffe

August 15th, 2016 at 8:44 AM ^

Yeah, I don't see how LeBron isn't right at the top in terms of freak athleticism. I mean, he's something like 6'8", 250, and might be in the top 10 fastest NBA players ever end to end. The chase-down block of Iguodala was just the latest example of that. Then there's his eerie court vision which probably would translate well to a variety of other sports. So here's a list of sports I think he could/would be pretty dominant in:

  • Football (TE)
  • Baseball (P)
  • Soccer (Goalie)
  • Hockey (Defenseman, like Chara)
  • Volleyball (Anything but setter, but maybe also setter)
  • Team handball
  • Water polo

Just to highlight this list, imagine another top-5 NBA player like KD. Not sure he'd make this list for anything but handball and volleyball.

 

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shoes

August 15th, 2016 at 8:43 AM ^

because I am looking at his incredible all around athleticism. Though Ali only boxed I'd also agree that his foot and hand speed at his peak was amazing for a man of his size. He also had consummate skill.

 

Both Babes- Ruth because he would have been a HOF pitcher had he only pitched and Didrickson because she was great in track and field, golf and anything she tried.

Jim Brown because he is in the discussion as best football player ever and some Lacrosse aficionados tell me he was probably the greates Lacrosse player ever.

Bo Jackson as described before.

Wilt Chamberlain doesn't get much love in this category but partly because much of the film on him is from when he was older and slower. He was unbelievable in the early 6o's and could have been a World Class Volley ball player had he focused on it- he was still very good.

 

And finally in the special- State of Michigan High School category, Richie Jordan of Fenneville. He averaged almost 40 pts per game as a senior in basketaball and 30 something points a game in football!! He could dunk at about 5'8". Was great in track even though he had little time to practice because he was All State in Baseball at the same time.

 

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taistreetsmyhero

August 15th, 2016 at 8:55 AM ^

Swimming does not attract the worlds greatest athletes, so just because phelps dominates swimming doesn't make him the greatest athlete. Additionally, he should be more renowned for his competitiveness than anything, as he has consistently won a ton of medals by the slimmest of margins. Someone like Ledecky or Simone Biles is more impressive athletically to me because they win and straight slaughter the competition. Those two are on a whole different level.

That being said, I think Lebron has to be at the top. He's the most physically well-rounded athlete in one of the top sports in the world, and there's never been someone like him. Jordan would probably be my number two, even though he was more skilled as a basketball player, his athleticism is second to lebron's.

I don't know enough about soccer to see if there is someone like him. Messi is arguably the GOAT, but would seem out of place on a list of greatest athlete ever.

Football, its hard to say. Jim Brown comes to mind as someone who was so much more physically dominant than anyone else in his time.

Ali also makes my list, as he was the GOAT while boxing was a prime time world sport.



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Sopwith

August 15th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^

Phelps for GOAT swimmer, absolutely. But athlete? The people on the planet earth with the greatest natural talent for swimming probably never went swimming a day in their lives, because most people don't. Competitive swimming is a developed-country sport for people who had access to swimming facilities. 

On the other hand, if you're insanely fast or a ridiculous all-around athlete, you figure it out pretty early in life. Swimming is competition against a tiny fraction of the world-- running by contrast is competition against damn near every person on the planet. 

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MaizeAndBlueWahoo

August 15th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

If you're going to say that, you might as well take it to the logical extreme, which is that Babe Ruth (or whoever you think it should be) probably isn't the greatest baseball player of all time because someone who never played probably has better natural skills but never got to develop them.

It's not coincidence that Jamaica and the US held six of eight spots in the 100m final in 2012.  It still takes a great training program.  It might cost less to develop that program but it still matters.

As I see it, swimmers could hop out of the pool and compete reasonably well in track and field events.  Michael Phelps wouldn't medal, but he wouldn't look out of place in an 800m run or a discus throw.  Track and field athletes would do everything from doggy paddle to flounder to outright drown if forced to compete in the swimming.

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jblaze

August 15th, 2016 at 8:59 AM ^

It really just depends on if you think (shorter distance) swimming and running are indicative of athleticism.

IMO, swimming is because it's a full body sport. Hands, legs, hips... Are all used. Running is trickier, because hands are used, but it's more of a debate.

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Hugh White

August 15th, 2016 at 9:02 AM ^

I concur with the posts above that name Jim Thorpe. My criterion: who is the individual who would have been superior to the most number of other people in the most number of athletic endeavors? Olympic Decathalon Gold; professional football; professional baseball; a short stint in professional basketball; and near deity in Lacrosse. Step up all challengers!

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