ESPN Top 100 Athletes From 2000

[BlueSkyGLW]

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

ESPN view of the top 100 athletes in the 21st Century - 25 years since year 2000......an exercise they do every 25 years.

#1 is Michael Phelps

Diana is #21
Maya is #36

Tamika Catchings #34
Candace Parker #60
Lisa Leslie #74
Sheryl Swoopes #81
Lauren Jackson #84
Aja Wilson #90

Breanna is nowhere to be seen.
Can anyone truly say that she is not better than any of the 6 non-UConn alums listed above, given what she has accomplished to support it both in the US and Internationally? Maybe they didn't want to have more than 2 alums from any school? Boo!

 

[Topdawg]

I am disappointed Breanna did not make the list. Here resume is stronger than many selected.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

I am disappointed Breanna did not make the list. Here resume is stronger than many selected.

On the plus side, they elected 8 women basketball players out of 100 from from ALL sports....something to expect from the main sports channel supporting women sports and the WNBA

 

[Kaizen]

On the plus side, they elected 8 women basketball players out of 100 from from ALL sports....something to expect from the main sports channel supporting women sports and the WNBA

If Aja Wilson can make at #90 Breanna definitely should make the top 100 list ...

 

[Happydad745]

Stewie not being on the list makes it questionable, at the very least.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

In everything they do ESPN has an agenda that injects inaccuracies.

 

[jdote33]

If Aja Wilson can make at #90 Breanna definitely should make the top 100 list ...

I agree. Not only the difference in college career, and additional gold medal but her euro league resume as well. It's a pretty bad mission.

 

[darrell]

Guess that “snub”. Hint: She’s EASILY the greatest Women’s Point Guard of all-time.

This doesn’t even include her 5 Olympic Gold medals.

 

[bballnut90]

Side note, but I guess volleyball isn't a sport. No mention of Kerri Walsh/Misty May is criminal. Kerri Walsh played in 5 Olympics and won 3 out of 5 golds and a bronze. She dominated her sport in a similar way to #1 overall Michael Phelps, the only difference is men's swimming has 18 potential gold medals each Olympic cycle whereas her sport only has one.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I would have taken Birdie over A'ja, given her longevity. A'ja has 1 NCAA title and 2 in the W. Sue doubles both and leads the W in games, minutes, wins, and assists. In another 5 years, A'ja will move up, probably way up.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

I haven't done a thorough check but I think they did not want to name more than two alums per sport from one school. UConn WBB should have had four, easy, with resumes more than the others listed, especially if you include overseas records.

Breanna and Sue should easily be in if Aja Wilson is in. Of course, this is not a basketball centric list but.....Wilson is the benchmark. If she is in, no question those two should be, well ahead of her.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

I would have taken Birdie over A'ja, given her longevity. A'ja has 1 NCAA title and 2 in the W. Sue doubles both and leads the W in games, minutes, wins, and assists. In another 5 years, A'ja will move up, probably way up.

I will never forget that 5'11" Gabby Williams outplayed Aja Wilson and Alaina Coates more than once.

Not just Barbie Bird but Breanna, too, the latter for her resume despite injury interruptions in her WNBA career.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

Continuing:

As many have said, this is ESPN creation for their own self-serving purpose (more click baits), except it is out there and some people will believe and quote it,

After finding all sorts of omissions and biases......objections to anything would be endless and pointless.....this is only the collection of their opinions.....judging athletes in the context of individual sports vs team sports wanders into the realm of the extreme subjective in their deliberations. Yes, they tell you what their criteria were and how they did it.....doesn't eliminate the issues. For example, alleged reliance on statistics tilts it from true value in team sports.... it would tend to undervalue the smaller point guard in basketball whose intangible influence in the success or failure of the team and how it plays is not easily captured by statistics fully. A good example is Ms. Clark of the Indiana Fever: as she learns to adjust to playing in the pros, her floor play in dictating the tempo for her team and setting up teammates for success underscores the true value of a playmaking point guard who can score. The team is growing into a better style of play, sharing the ball and it has dramatically improved a little over halfway into the season. And yet, what she is doing is being eclipsed in conversations among those who are size-centric in their assessments, favoring instead big women, saying the proof is in the statistics. As if that fully captures the point guard's influence in how the team plays.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I will never forget that 5'11" Gabby Williams outplayed Aja Wilson and Alaina Coates more than once.

Not just Barbie Bird but Breanna, too, the latter for her resume despite injury interruptions in her WNBA career.

I think Gabby may raise hell in the Olympics. She could be the best non-USA player and maybe one of the best players overall. Keep in mind that Gabulous is only 27.

 

[fomalhaut]

Another embarrassing fiasco from what used to be the Worldwide Leader. Leaving out Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird is unfathomable, no matter how many Connecticut players you have already.

 

[cancontent]

Could a case not be made for Swin Cash too? I rarely see her name come up in conversation when former alums are mentioned.

 

[BBallF]

The list is idiotic, contrived, and illegitimate. How do you leave out a four time NCAA champion who just happened to be the MOP those 4 years? Does ESPN seriously think that is going to ever be duplicated again? It's not like she hasn't had a "decent" pro career either. The omission of Bird is just incomprehensible as well.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

I think Gabby may raise hell in the Olympics. She could be the best non-USA player and maybe one of the best players overall. Keep in mind that Gabulous is only 27.

Absolutely. And she has a wonderful partner in what they want to do: Marine Johannes.....

I am optimistic about her long distance accuracy now.....that has been the only little weakness, but it had been improving. She did well with that during the qualifying event in China.

 

[maple]

You have to include DT and Maya, obviously, but to not include Stewart is just criminal IMHO. I may be a bit biased because she’s my favorite UConn player (after Rebecca), but I think her resume more than speaks for itself. I don’t see how Wilson gets on there but Stewie doesn’t.

And if the whole thought process is to not have more than 2 alums from the same school then it’s just a disingenuous list from the start TBH because you’re taking into account pointless factors not related to their abilities and accomplishments.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

You have to include DT and Maya, obviously, but to not include Stewart is just criminal IMHO. I may be a bit biased because she’s my favorite UConn player (after Rebecca), but I think her resume more than speaks for itself. I don’t see how Wilson gets on there but Stewie doesn’t.

And if the whole thought process is to not have more than 2 alums from the same school then it’s just a disingenuous list from the start TBH because you’re taking into account pointless factors not related to their abilities and accomplishments.

ESPN is trying to defend and sell their notion that Wilson deserves to be in the list (and Breanna not, by staying quiet about her) by featuring or highlighting her every chance they get since that list came out. Boo!! Again!

 

[visitingcock]

I would have A’ja on the list but I would have Stewie ranked (1 spot) above her. Both are dominant players and Stewie has a couple of years lead in years played. Both will rise up that list because they still have a few years at their peak. As to accomplishments, we could argue about who was the MOP last year.

But let’s not argue right now because we have the privilege of watching them play together. As PAIGE SAID: “A’ja and Stewie. Not fair.”

 

[boontonbomber]

If they're going to label their list as top "athletes", then gotta wonder how you leave out a guy,who over 2 days of competition:
Runs 10.5 in the 100m
Long jumps 25ft 7in
Puts the shot 52ft 6in
High jumps 6ft 9in
Runs 400m in 48.2
Pole vaults 17ft 10in
Throws the javelin 236 ft

Gotta think Kevin Mayer of France is a bit better "athlete" than, say, David Ortiz. Certainly deserves some mention in top 100 athletes. Perhaps a different name for this list would make more sense.
Oh, and Nafi Thiam, the great heptathlete from Belgium, is probably worth a mention,also.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

If they're going to label their list as top "athletes", then gotta wonder how you leave out a guy,who over 2 days of competition:
Runs 10.5 in the 100m
Long jumps 25ft 7in
Puts the shot 52ft 6in
High jumps 6ft 9in
Runs 400m in 48.2
Pole vaults 17ft 10in
Throws the javelin 236 ft

Gotta think Kevin Mayer of France is a bit better "athlete" than, say, David Ortiz. Certainly deserves some mention in top 100 athletes. Perhaps a different name for this list would make more sense.
Oh, and Nafi Thiam, the great heptathlete from Belgium, is probably worth a mention,also.

Fair point on multi-discipline sports: decathletes, pentathletes, Winter Sports deserve to occupy space in the hierarchy of athletes.....

In this reality, multi-event/discipline track, swimming and Winter sport athletes also deserve space. I did wonder about the scarcity of Winter Sports athletes (Shiffrin and White and no Europeans?) in the list.....

 

[David54]

Seems to me Maya Moore is always underrated.

 

[JellyBean]

Oh my word! I can get players being ranked in spots that are too high or too low. But to leave players, in this case Breanna Stewart, off the list for whatever reason is no excuse. That is just being lazy.