OT: - Most influential U.S. athlete of the past 25 years? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

OT: Most influential U.S. athlete of the past 25 years?

I can see a good arguments for Serena giving Tiger a fight. Over the past 20 years, Tiger's probably had more bad publicity than good, which doesn't help his case.

If the criterion was last 30 years, it would definitely be Tiger, then Jordan. But Jordan didn't do much of anything in past 25 years. And Tiger was already a phenomenon by 2000. Serena did all her work in the 2000s. And she's still relevant enough to make news by appearing with Kendrick at the Super Bowl.

I'd say LeBron is third, Clark and Ohtani would fill out top 5.
 
Scottzer said:
If she came out with a shoe, it would sell quite well. And, with BB having more eyes on it than tennis, she has the potential to be far more influential.
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Yeah, we just disagree here. Again, Serena Williams made tennis relevant for women and especially black women for 25 years. Clark is a blown ACL away from being lapped by Bueckers.
 
Windham4th said:
Didn't he retire 25 years ago... so he is outside the range
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Even though Jordan hasn't played in over 20 years he's the most influential. He globalized the entire sport and completely changed sports marketing forever. His cultural impact is enormous to this day.

Nike was a running company that sold waffle racers before they signed Jordan. Fast forward to today and Jordan's outsell Lebron, Durant, and Curry combined something like 10 to 1.

 
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storrsroars said:
I can see a good arguments for Serena giving Tiger a fight. Over the past 20 years, Tiger's probably had more bad publicity than good, which doesn't help his case.

If the criterion was last 30 years, it would definitely be Tiger, then Jordan. But Jordan didn't do much of anything in past 25 years. And Tiger was already a phenomenon by 2000. Serena did all her work in the 2000s. And she's still relevant enough to make news by appearing with Kendrick at the Super Bowl.

I'd say LeBron is third, Clark and Ohtani would fill out top 5.
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If we’re talking influential, the answer is probably Jordan until we all croak.

He hasn’t played in almost 30 years and he’s easily the most influential basketball player on earth to this day.

Influencing other greats (every one influenced by MJ on the court), influencing marketing, fashion (sneaker culture still owned by him) he’s the top dog in every area.

Especially given he hasn’t played in years, that proves his influence.
 
HitDog said:
If that’s your standard shouldn’t Dr Jobe be more influential than Tommy John?


TJ Surgery
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In the medical field sure, now who had to come back from the injury and perform to prove the notion that you could pitch back to form from TJ surgery.
 
Mr. French said:
If we’re talking influential, the answer is probably Jordan until we all croak.

He hasn’t played in almost 30 years and he’s easily the most influential basketball player on earth to this day.

Influencing other greats (every one influenced by MJ on the court), influencing marketing, fashion (sneaker culture still owned by him) he’s the top dog in every area.

Especially given he hasn’t played in years, that proves his influence.
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Can absolutely attest to this my 13 year old nephew wears Jordan brand merchandise including the Jordan shoes. Obviously never saw MJ play and wears a Jordan jersey.
 
Mr. French said:
If we’re talking influential, the answer is probably Jordan until we all croak.

He hasn’t played in almost 30 years and he’s easily the most influential basketball player on earth to this day.

Influencing other greats (every one influenced by MJ on the court), influencing marketing, fashion (sneaker culture still owned by him) he’s the top dog in every area.

Especially given he hasn’t played in years, that proves his influence.
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I agree with Jordan being up on the list even though he hasn't played. I work in a school in Virginia. Today, you'll see a few Kobe jerseys on kids, maybe 1 Lebron, but about 1/5 to 1/8 of the kids are wearing Jordan shoes or jerseys or tees.

Still, he would be #2 and if he is on the list, then #1 is Jackie Robinson.

If you go by only athletes who played in the last 25 years, even though is best years were just before then, I would say Shaq has to be on the list. The guy is a larger than life figure.

If it really is only athletes who competed in the last 25 years, it is Tiger. The guy made over 1 billion dollars... because he dominated at golf. Prize money has at least doubled and there are so many more fans because of him.
 
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Scoe said:
Here's one Lance Armstrong. Think whatever you want you can call him a cheater and/or a scumbag but he's the reason you see cyclists on the road and why roads have added bike lanes.
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He's for sure not the reason roads added bike lanes lol. But he definitely did a lot to increase popularity and interest in cycling.

I'd vote Curry. He changed basketball forever while also being massively popular and commercially successful. Tiger is number 1 for exposure and commercial success, but golf is still golf.
 
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Tiger by far and away is number 1. Really encompasses both aspects of influential in terms of his star power and breaking the mold and then also other worldly talent.
 
superjohn said:
Even though Jordan hasn't played in over 20 years he's the most influential. He globalized the entire sport and completely changed sports marketing forever. His cultural impact is enormous to this day.

Nike was a running company that sold waffle racers before they signed Jordan. Fast forward to today and Jordan's outsell Lebron, Durant, and Curry combined something like 10 to 1.

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Yeah but most of that happened more than 25 years ago
 
Some predictably horribly bad takes. An AI response? Steph Curry? Lebron?

Money talks. Everything else walks.

It's MJ or Tiger and everything else is a distant third.
 
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Scoe said:
Here's one Lance Armstrong. Think whatever you want you can call him a cheater and/or a scumbag but he's the reason you see cyclists on the road and why roads have added bike lanes.
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RuffRuff said:

2. Michael Phelps​

Why he stands out:

​

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If you are going to consider Phelps on that list, Katie Ledecky is just as good, if not a better choice. In a sport where a 5-year run of dominance is amazing, what she's done in the 800 & 1500 freestyle since 2012 is unreal. And she's a million times better human being than Phelps.
 
champs99and04 said:
It's LeBron and it's not close. A lot of people don't like him which skews the answers.

Tiger would be a reasonable choice if golfers were athletes.
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Explain how he’s more influential than Jordan please.
 
I have a hot take and that is while Tiger was definitely one of the most influential... did he really change golf? In my mind, Golf looks a like it did in the 90's.

Given that, it has to be MJ. I think he was the first athlete turned billionaire and his shoes are still part of the zeitgeist.
 
Tiger for sure

Then Lebron vs Steph for 2 and 3

Then I think it’s a pretty big gulf between them and anyone else
 
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HitDog said:
If that’s your standard shouldn’t Dr Jobe be more influential than Tommy John?


TJ Surgery
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Although outside the time window, if you are talking Drs, shouldn’t Dr Scott be on the list? He rebuilt King’s ACL. Covers all sports, not just baseball. I believe Bernard was the first pro athlete to compete on a high level after acl reconstruction.
 
Tom Brady

He is the best ever at the most important position in the game America loves most.

And he did it with will because he never had the same physical tools that others have.

I am not a Patriot fan and I am not a Brady fan as he authored the biggest Super Bowl upset against my favorite team but you have to respect what he did and the last one with Tampa was the icing on his greatness.
 
Scoe said:
In the medical field sure, now who had to come back from the injury and perform to prove the notion that you could pitch back to form from TJ surgery.
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I disagree with your argument. Is Salk deserving of the accolades or the first patient he inoculated?

And I’d say Tiger is the answer as to having the biggest influence.
 
Mr. French said:
Explain how he’s more influential than Jordan please.
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Most influential Athlete of the last 25 years was the prompt. Kinda have to qualify through sporting, not just shoes. Admittedly a big influence, but I’m not sure people grasp (or want to grasp) the chokehold LeBron has had on sports media in the last 2 decades.

I swear one could state that LeBron is the best 6’8 SF to play for the Cavs in the last 25 years and people would still find a way to disagree, lol.
 
cwh20 said:
I disagree with your argument. Is Salk deserving of the accolades or the first patient he inoculated?

And I’d say Tiger is the answer as to having the biggest influence.
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Was the first patient he inoculated an athlete who accomplished great things?
 
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