The 50 Greatest Living Athletes

[Troublemaker]

If you are going to leave off Dan Marino because you're having difficulty defining "athletic" then how do you include Tom Brady?

Yeah, there are definitely some problems with the internal logic of this list. Also, if GQ is going with the definition of "physical dynamism that reinvents a sport," why shouldn't this list be littered with track-and-field world record holders? When Usain Bolt runs a 9.58 in the 100 meters, is he not physically dynamic and reinventing our belief in how fast a human being can run? Also, from a practical standpoint, it's a complete joke how much more athletic the track-and-field stars are compared to athletes who play a sport, even guys like Lebron and Jordan.

Here's a clip of Mike Conley Sr dunking from clear behind the free throw line. Lol, that's nuts. (In case you're wondering, Dr. J was in front of the line and Jordan was on the line when they completed their iconic "free throw line" dunks).

[mapei]

Thank you OPK for mentioning the great Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain. He definitely makes my list, alongside the greatest cyclist ever, Belgian Eddy Merckx. Among currently competing cyclists, I can make a case for Peter Sagan, but I concede that a list of only 50 is rightfully limited. The same concession applies to Jeannie Longo and Rebecca Twigg, who both had long and exciting careers in the sport.

[UrinalCake]

.Here's a clip of Mike Conley Sr dunking from clear behind the free throw line.

Random question - has an Olympic long jumper ever tried to compete in some sort of dunk competition? How big a deal would it be for them to dunk from the free throw line? I know MP3 competed in the high jump in high school, but I'm always curious about how skills would cross over between sports. If someone like Deion Sanders competed against Olympic sprinters, would he be in the same ballpark or would they totally blow him out of the water?

[Troublemaker]

If someone like Deion Sanders competed against Olympic sprinters, would he be in the same ballpark or would they totally blow him out of the water?

They would blow him out of the water. You might remember a few months ago a Bengals rookie boasted that he could beat Usain Bolt in the 40-yard-dash after running a 4.22 at the scouting combine. (Note: Deion ran a 4.27 back in his day). Well, in response, a college sprinter at Tennessee who's an excellent runner -- 9.95 in the 100 meters, but nothing special like Bolt -- tested himself and ran a 4.12 40-yard-dash. The Olympic level athletes are the freakiest of freaks, especially if they hold a world record.

[sagegrouse]

Random question - has an Olympic long jumper ever tried to compete in some sort of dunk competition? How big a deal would it be for them to dunk from the free throw line? I know MP3 competed in the high jump in high school, but I'm always curious about how skills would cross over between sports. If someone like Deion Sanders competed against Olympic sprinters, would he be in the same ballpark or would they totally blow him out of the water?

My snarky comment is that Carl Lewis (and other runners and jumpers) may be handicapped by not being able to palm a basketball.

Otherwise, hoops players train many hours a day year-around on basketball skills with a couple of hours on strength and more general athleticism. World-class track athletes train every day, mostly in developing the skills of their sport -- speed, jumping, running form. A "dunk contest" represents less than one percent of what a basketball player needs to do -- much less important than "court vision," for example, which takes a long time to develop.

This is a really dumb post. I'll try to do better next time.

[JasonEvans]

My snarky comment is that Carl Lewis (and other runners and jumpers) may be handicapped by not being able to palm a basketball.

I believe Carl Lewis was known for having fairly big hands. I bet he could palm a basketball fairly easily if he bothered to try.



-Jason "Carl was 6-2, not crazy tall but big enough that if his hands were even normal for his height he could probably palm a basketball" Evans

[uh_no]

Random question - has an Olympic long jumper ever tried to compete in some sort of dunk competition? How big a deal would it be for them to dunk from the free throw line? I know MP3 competed in the high jump in high school, but I'm always curious about how skills would cross over between sports. If someone like Deion Sanders competed against Olympic sprinters, would he be in the same ballpark or would they totally blow him out of the water?

bob beamon jumped 29'2+"

The distance from the NBA three point line to the baseline is ~28'

Bob beamon could jump from the NBA three point line at the top of the key....to beyond the baseline. that's nuts. just stand on even a college court...right at the top of the 3 point line...and look where the baseline is.

They would have to slightly adjust their takeoff angle, but dunking from beyond the FT line for a world-class long jumper should be largely trivial. Just imagine....if he took off from the FT line, at the time he got to the rim, he'd only be halfway through his jump...so at his maximum height already.

I take back that he'd even have to adjust his takeoff angle. watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEt_Xgg8dzc pause the video during his jump. He probably would have straight up slammed into the backboard.

Deion Sanders would get obliterated in a world-class 100m. https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/100m_nfl.htm he wouldn't have even made it out of the heats in rio with his PB: https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/ol.../heats/summary

Olympic track and field athletes are absolutely incredible.

[flyingdutchdevil]

bob beamon jumped 29'2+"

The distance from the NBA three point line to the baseline is ~28'

Bob beamon could jump from the NBA three point line at the top of the key...to beyond the baseline. that's nuts. just stand on even a college court...right at the top of the 3 point line...and look where the baseline is.

They would have to slightly adjust their takeoff angle, but dunking from beyond the FT line for a world-class long jumper should be largely trivial. Just imagine...if he took off from the FT line, at the time he got to the rim, he'd only be halfway through his jump...so at his maximum height already.

I take back that he'd even have to adjust his takeoff angle. watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEt_Xgg8dzc pause the video during his jump. He probably would have straight up slammed into the backboard.

Deion Sanders would get obliterated in a world-class 100m. https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/100m_nfl.htm he wouldn't have even made it out of the heats in rio with his PB: https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/ol.../heats/summary

Olympic track and field athletes are absolutely incredible.

Yeah...this is one of my biggest pet peeves in comparing athletes across sports. Just because Lebron is amazing at basketball does not mean he'd be amazing at soccer (sooooooooo many people suggest this. It's very annoying). Fast players in most non-track and field sports would get, as you mentioned, obliterated in world-class sprinting. Move NBAers would get obliterated in the high jump. It's not just skill but technique and years upon years of practice and understanding the game.

Usain Bolt is the fastest man alive with okay soccer skills and he has no chance to make it to a top league team (he's "practicing" with Dortmund right now. And the head of the club basically stated Usain has no chance to play there).

[uh_no]

(he's "practicing" with Dortmund right now. And the head of the club basically stated Usain has no chance to play there).

the tim tebow of soccer!

[sagegrouse]

OK, I'll cut you some slack on Carl Lewis, But then there's Bob Hayes of US Olympics (100 meter gold) and the Cowboys in the NFL: He was often described as "ten-flat speed and twelve-flat hands."

[PackMan97]

Honnold should be at the top of the list... Though in all fairness, maybe they didn't spent him too live long enough for it to be published. As they say in his sport, there are no old free climbers only young free climbers and retired free climbers.

I would probably favor athletes who have shown excellence at more than one sport. His life Tim Duncan who was World class swimmer before Hurricane Hugo wrecked his pool and he took up basketball. Our guys like Jordan who despite not being an MLB player was still good enough to play in the minutes and definitely someone like Bo Jackson who was great at both sports.

Id also put that cross fit freak in this list... What's his name? You've got to be in some serious shape to participate in that sport.

[PackMan97]

Yeah...this is one of my biggest pet peeves in comparing athletes across sports. Just because Lebron is amazing at basketball does not mean he'd be amazing at soccer (sooooooooo many people suggest this. It's very annoying). Fast players in most non-track and field sports would get, as you mentioned, obliterated in world-class sprinting. Move NBAers would get obliterated in the high jump. It's not just skill but technique and years upon years of practice and understanding the game.

Usain Bolt is the fastest man alive with okay soccer skills and he has no chance to make it to a top league team (he's "practicing" with Dortmund right now. And the head of the club basically stated Usain has no chance to play there).

I think it's fun to think of LeBron grew up playing soccer and wanting to be the next Pele or Renaldo... How good could he have been? I don't think anyone wants to watch LeBron play soccer right now.

[uh_no]

I don't think anyone wants to watch LeBron play soccer right now.

dunno...do you think he'd know which goal to kick the ball in against trinidad and tobago? If so, I'd love to be watching lebron play soccer right now.

[rasputin]

dunno...do you think he'd know which goal to kick the ball in against trinidad and tobago? If so, I'd love to be watching lebron play soccer right now.

You mean we had to pay TWO countries? Doesn't seem fair.

[Devilwin]

No Brett Favre, no Larry Bird = bogus...

[rasputin]

No Brett Favre, no Larry Bird = bogus...

Favre is not in the top 500.

[moonpie23]

Chris Sharma should be in there ....climbing the impossible...

[MartyClark]

3 time NCAA champion, world champion, Olympic gold medalist Dan Gable

[DevilFalcon]

Lebron = athlete
Phelps
Bolt

But tiger and brady? Having trouble with the definition of athlete is right...
I would wager that I am more athletic than Tom Brady seeing as how I can run and jump and things of that sort...

[NSDukeFan]

Lebron = athlete
Phelps
Bolt

But tiger and brady? Having trouble with the definition of athlete is right...
I would wager that I am more athletic than Tom Brady seeing as how I can run and jump and things of that sort...

No offence, but I'm going to guess that Tom Brady is a better athlete than you. He seems to run and jump enough to keep chains moving and keep playing most weeks over the last 15ish years.