The 50 Greatest Living Athletes (Taurasi)

[CamrnCrz1974]

Diana Taurasi

But there's only one title you need to know, remember, and shout at anyone who dares disagree: greatest female basketball player of all time. Not just for what she does on the court, but how she does it, with a ruthless fire. She says, “I still wake up every morning and think I suck.” And when she set the WNBA scoring record this past summer, she found herself being compared to Kobe Bryant, who (it's been said) has a competitive streak.

“I heard I was the self-proclaimed White Mamba, which I can say I have never self-proclaimed myself anything. The only thing I can say is that I'm a kindhearted [a**]hole.”


The 50 Greatest Living Athletes

 

[bags27]

Great that D is so high on the list.
I'm sure folks will argue about order and inclusion/exclusion (Borg, but not Rod Laver? c'mon is anyone here serious? and really, any list without Eddie Merckx not in the top 10, let alone not even in the top 50, is just plain ignorant; and someone better tell Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax that they're dead, because they, along with Say Hey!, still top my baseball list), but here's my gripe: as much as I respect the guy, Bo Jackson does not belong. A fantastic, amazing athlete whose two sport career was cut far, far too short, but it's about the entire career, after all. For lots of sports, there are amazing athletes who suffered as he did and never managed to get the attention he got (who can forget that Monday Night Football game when he ran out of the stadium?). But still....


Love Mike Trout, but not yet and ditto J.J. Watt. Guys just don't have the careers yet. And Watt but no Lawrence Taylor. Insane....

Anyway, that's what these lists are: click bait and barroom chatter. Pass the peanuts.

 

[Kaizen]

I will add Maya to the list ....jmho

 

[j66kicker]

Classic DT pic in the article!

“ ' You can go the famous route, have all the Instagram friends, go to every damn club and pop bottles,' Diana Taurasi says about her approach to personal-brand management. 'I gave a big middle finger to the brand and just played basketball.' Maybe it's not such a great brand strategy—unless your brand is being better than everyone else on earth."

 

[j66kicker]

but here's my gripe: as much as I respect the guy, Bo Jackson does not belong. A fantastic, amazing athlete whose two sport career was cut far, far too short, but it's about the entire career, after all. For lots of sports, there are amazing athletes who suffered as he did and never managed to get the attention he got (who can forget that Monday Night Football game when he ran out of the stadium?). But still....

But Bo Jackson was SOOOO dominant while he played. I remember visiting the Nike factory store on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago during the time Michael Jordan was playing. At that time the whole store was pretty much a shrine to Jordan. But for each non-basketball section of the store they had a lifelike mannequin likeness of the most iconic current athlete in that sport, dressed in the latest Nike gear for that sport (most iconic NIKE athlete, no doubt). One floor was dedicated to football and baseball equipment. But they just had one mannequin - Bo Jackson with his left side dressed for baseball, leading into the baseball room, and his right side in football gear leading into the football room. It made you sort of stop short and say, "Wow this guy is dominating BOTH sports."

 

[MilfordHusky]

 

[Millenial23]

I saw this list earlier and was looking for Maya. I mean, it's good people on the list, but really, Maya should definitely be on there!

 

[MilfordHusky]

 

[j66kicker]

I saw a t-shirt that said, “Bo knows your girlfriend”

 

[MilfordHusky]

The Human Highlight Reel (not Dominique)

 

[ochoopsfan]

Did I miss Bobby Orr?
Whine Gretzky made it and not Orr or Messier?

Lawrence Taylor was the Best NFL player I have seen.

Geez, was this list made by Kenny Kalina?

 

[meyers7]

Any list of "athletes" that includes golfers, isn't worth a dime. (where's the bowlers, billiard players, dart players??)

 

[Huskee11]

So, this list was put together by the Editors of GQ.

Included among can`t miss GQ articles such as "The Chalkstripe Isn`t Just for Bankers Anymore" and "Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire Dress Like Cops Now".

Maybe Mike Ditka will be evaluating the Giorgio Armani Fall/Winter collection. Can`t wait.

Actually, Bjorn Borg didn`t make the top 50 list. That was just an underwear ad. GQ apologizes for any confusion.

 

[BigBird]

That there is not ONE athlete from motorsports disqualifies this attempt at a list for me. Jimmie Johnson has a record-tying 7 NASCAR championships, and has done something that the great Earnhardt and the self-promoting Petty never did: Winning 5 chapionships in a row.

I understand, to a degree, why a magazine like GQ would diss or ignore NASCAR. It's simple. The GQ readerbase and the NASCAR fanbase would seem to have little or nothing in common. NASCAR geeks read Guns and Ammo, not GQ.

But motorsports drivers ARE athletes; this was settled long ago. No Michael Schumacher, no Sir Jackie Stewart, no John Force? Pure nonsense.

 

[eebmg]

The word athlete keeps throwing me and I tend to drift towards looking at specific athletic abilities such as individual athletic performances that revolutionize a sport such as Usain Bolt. I think of DT as a "winner" and it her mind and attitude more than athleticism that sets her apart. Top 50 winner definitely Top 20. Top 50 athleticism? Anyway, a pretty strange list and why on earth could then not number them?

 

[CL82]

No Larry Bird based on athleticism? Really?

 

[Scud49]

Ah...no Bobby Orr...????

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

When making these types of lists, there will ALWAYS be very deserving people left off. The debate is too difficult.

For example, how do you compare sports? How do you compare tennis to basketball? Football to swimming? Individual sports to team sports? Olympic sports to professional sports?

Second, how do you compare players across eras - e.g., picking Bjorn Borg over Pete Sampras? Sampras never won the French; Borg never won the US Open. Borg had a wooden racket; Sampras did not. Bjorg was the master of the clay/grass combo (French Open and Wimbledon), Sampras the master of the grass/hardcourt combo (Wimbledon and the US Open). Bjorg has 11 GS titles; Sampras has 14. Very difficult to choose.

Third, how do you compare the accomplishments in women's sports to men's sports, across the eras? Cheryl Miller, for example, did not have the benefit of a professional league like the WNBA, as her male counterparts did with the NBA. And then try doing that across sports - e.g., should Simone Biles be on the list ahead of Allen Iverson?

Fourth, how do you account for different types of greatness? Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slam titles (but "only"12 in singles). But with Billie Jean King, there is no WTA Tour. There is no equal prize money at Grand Slam tournaments. There is no prime time viewing of women's tennis on major/cable networks. There is greatness on the court/field, and there is greatness off of the court/field; King's greatness off the court had an historical impact on it.

One thing that I appreciated was that there nine women listed (to forty-one men). Yes, the ratio is not great, but in previous years, lists listed maybe five out of one hundred; here, we have nine out of fifty.

Anyway, a pretty strange list and why on earth could then not number them?

@eebmg , please see my previous points in response to your comment. I am not sure *how* one could rank the players, given how difficult it was to even come up with a list. I was really happy that two of the most prominent female athletes in the world - Serena Williams and Diana Taurasi - were mentioned so early in the article.

 

[eebmg]

@eebmg , please see my previous points in response to your comment. I am not sure *how* one could rank the players, given how difficult it was to even come up with a list. I was really happy that two of the most prominent female athletes in the world - Serena Williams and Diana Taurasi - were mentioned so early in the article.[/QUOTE]

I see that in looking at the "rules" of the article, only Lebron was #1 and the other 49 were not picked in any order.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Just to underscore the holes in this donut... NO BOBBY ORR!!!! Unfathomable lunacy.

 

[Shorty Dee]

3 out 4 of my all time favorites made the list, so I don't know how I really feel about that. I do not understand how Maya Moore didn't make the list.

My favorites of all time:
1. Earvin "Magic" Johnson
2. Cheryl Miller
3. Diana Taurasi
4. Maya Moore

 

[YellwJcket999]

No Valentio Rossi (or Agostini) or Michael Schumacher?
I don't follow Nascar or Indy car (it takes less skill to drive in a circle imo). The greatest motorcycle racer(s) in the history of the world or the greatest driver did not make the list. There is something very wrong.

 

[YellwJcket999]

Katie Ledecky?