25 Greatest Athletes of the Century

 

Usain Bolt. Photo credit: Puma SE

We all know that, technically, the 21st century (and third millennium) started in 2001, not 2000. But in 1999 ESPN created a list of "Top North American Athletes of the Century." A lot can change in the culture over the next 75 years, but I suspect that "best of the century" lists will likely come out in 2099, not 2100.

Thus, we can treat 2000-2024 as one-quarter of the way to the 2099 list. Now is a good time to reflect on the strongest candidates from this period to make the 2099 "Greatest Athletes" top 100 list.

Future list-makers will have a better sense of who to choose and how to rank than did ESPN's 1999 selectors, because, unlike the early-mid (and even later) 1900s, virtually every meaningful sporting event since 2000 is available on video. Furthermore, advanced analytics can assess the impressiveness of athletic achievements more clearly, with less reliance on myth-making sportswriters and broadcasters.

Below I submit the names, in alphabetical order, of 25 athletes from the last 25 years that should merit consideration for 2099's Top 100 list.

This list isn't exclusively of North American athletes, but they come from sports but it comes from sports that North Americans currently or have traditionally paid attention to. For instance, Messi (Argentina) and Ronaldo (Portugal) are included in this list because international soccer become more popular in the United States. In contrast, soccer's Pele and great foreign-born Olympic athletes weren't included in the 1999 ESPN list. 

Here's the list:

Simone Biles - Gymnastics

Usain Bolt - Track

Barry Bonds - Baseball

Tom Brady - Football

Kobe Bryant - Basketball

Novak Djokovic - Tennis

Aaron Donald - Football

Tim Duncan - Basketball

Roger Federer - Tennis

LeBron James - Basketball

Jimmie Johnson - NASCAR

Jon Jones - UFC

Katie Ledecky - Swimming

Peyton Manning - Football

Patrick Mahomes, Football

Floyd Mayweather - Boxing

Lionel Messi - Soccer

Rafael Nadal - Tennis

Alexander Ovechkin - Hockey

Michael Phelps - Swimming

Albert Pujols - Baseball

Cristiano Ronaldo - Soccer

Diana Taurasi - Basketball

Serena Williams - Tennis 

Tiger Woods - Golf

If you believe I missed an obvious choice, please let me know and then select a name that should be taken off the list. 

Candidates who seem on course to be added to the list (to make it 30 names) over the next five years:

Nikola Jokic, Basketball

Shohei Ohtani, Baseball

Connor McDavid, Hockey

Mike Trout, Baseball

A'ja Wilson, Basketball

James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe). Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.