OT: - Most influential U.S. athlete of the past 25 years? | Page 4 | The Boneyard

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

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.
 
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.
 
Jordan.

Sneaker culture transcends not only all sports, but also beyond sports. Jordan’s time away from the game has allowed his mythical status to grow beyond anything he or any athlete can do or has done playing their sport.
 
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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?
 
temery said:
Was the first patient he inoculated an athlete who accomplished great things?
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Tommy John was able to pitch again which is great but he doesn’t deserve the credit for that. He was a good pitcher who got the chance to continue pitching at a high level. The new procedure was the success story.
 
cwh20 said:
Tommy John was able to pitch again which is great but he doesn’t deserve the credit for that. He was a good pitcher who got the chance to continue pitching at a high level. The new procedure was the success story.
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While the dr should get more credit it’s not how it works, the athlete gets the attention. When Tom Cruise wins an academy award should the stunts man of those movies get more credit probably but that’s not how it works.
 
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Is Jake Paul an athlete? I say no but he’s a social media “influencer” who participates in a sport. In terms of marketing himself it’s impressive no one can deny it, no matter what you think of him and im not even a fan of his.
 
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Scoe said:
While the dr should get more credit it’s not how things work the athlete gets the attention. When Tom Cruise wins an academy award should the stunts man of those movies get more credit probably but that’s not how it works.
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This is getting away a bit. But you're correct. Jimi Hendrix didnt invent the Fender Strat but he made it the legendary instrument it still is.
 
cwh20 said:
Tommy John was able to pitch again which is great but he doesn’t deserve the credit for that. He was a good pitcher who got the chance to continue pitching at a high level. The new procedure was the success story.
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I wonder how many crappy pitchers got the same surgery, but nobody knew about it because they were crappy.
 
champs99and04 said:
It's LeBron and it's not close. A lot of people don't like him which skews the answers.
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Again, what has he influenced? MJ changed the way the game was played. LeBron didn't. MJ influenced fashion and uniforms. Not LeBron. And his one thing outside of hoop that anyone remembers is when he criticized those who were critical of China. That didn't seem to make folks more sympathetic to China. I guess he did make it more acceptable to go title-hunting in free agency.
 
Scoe said:
While the dr should get more credit it’s not how it works, the athlete gets the attention. When Tom Cruise wins an academy award should the stunts man of those movies get more credit probably but that’s not how it works.
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I see your point but this is not a great example since TC is famous in part for doing the vast majority of his own stunts in action movies.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
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.
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I’m not one of those guys who discredits LeBron - he’s incredible and by any measure is great and influential. I just wanted to know that poster’s opinion on why LeBron is MORE influential in the last 25 years to Jordan. You didn’t explain it either.
 
Influence, not play on the field.

The more I think about it the more it has to been Ed O'Bannon. How many student athletes and universities did he impact and how many people got paid because of him standing up for himself and others against two juggernauts, NCAA and EA Sports.

Albeit the NCAA ended up being more of a paper tiger, but that isn't the point
 
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