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Greatest Athlete Ever

scootsy

scootsy

Well-Known Member
Was just talking about this with peeps during the NBA Finals game today. LeBron got a lot of votes, simply because someone with his speed and strength is ever that tall/coordinated.

However, my vote goes to Bo Jackson, with Deion Sanders a distant second, and then a grand canyon distance between him and the third person, whoever the hell that is.
 
It's Dave Winfield IMO.

"Winfield was drafted by four teams in three different sports. The San Diego Padres selected him as a pitcher with the fourth overall pick in the MLB draft and both the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) and the Utah Stars (ABA) drafted him.[4][5] And even though he never played college football, the Minnesota Vikings selected Winfield in the 17th round of the NFL draft. He is one of three players ever to be drafted by three professional sports (the others being Mickey McCarty, and Dave Logan), and the only athlete drafted by four leagues.[6]"

-his wiki page
 
The way I see it, there are three ways to judge "best athlete":

1. The best all-around in a single sport.

2. Being very good at many sports.

3. Pure athletic ability (running, jumping, etc.)

To me, (1) doesn't mean much. Even if you could agree on the best athlete for each sport, there's no good way to distinguish between them. Who's better, Wayne Gretzky or Aleksandr Karelin?

The other two are better criteria. That being the case, Jim Thorpe fits the bill pretty well. For women, Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
 
If we talk about elite athleticizm / length and defensive potential, we have to take a look at DJ Stephens and Adonis Thomas in the secound round of this draft.
 
AtheistPreacher said:
The way I see it, there are three ways to judge "best athlete":

1. The best all-around in a single sport.

2. Being very good at many sports.

3. Pure athletic ability (running, jumping, etc.)

To me, (1) doesn't mean much. Even if you could agree on the best athlete for each sport, there's no good way to distinguish between them. Who's better, Wayne Gretzky or Aleksandr Karelin?

The other two are better criteria. That being the case, Jim Thorpe fits the bill pretty well. For women, Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
Click to expand...

You don't know Bo.
 
Jim Brown - and it's not even close.

He set high school records in NYC in track and field, basketball, LaCrosse and football that stood for 40 and 50 years.

Jim Brown of the 1950's would be a 1000 yard rusher in the NFL today. If he had the benefits of today's conditioning and nutrition, he'd probably shut down the league.

Bo Jackson gets high marks but his body broke down well before he was 30
 
Hard choice. Wilt Chamberlain was tremendous athlete for example. But I would go with Carl Lewis. When he was at his peak he was just unreal. Same can be said about Sergey Bubka.
 
AKMVP said:
Hard choice. Wilt Chamberlain was tremendous athlete for example.
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I read somewhere that Chamberlain suffered horrible bouts of insomnia - so much so that he'd go several days without sleeping. And yet he averaged over 48mpg (he played every minute in regulation plus overtime) a few times early in his career.
 
candrew said:
I read somewhere that Chamberlain suffered horrible bouts of insomnia - so much so that he'd go several days without sleeping. And yet he averaged over 48mpg (he played every minute in regulation plus overtime) a few times early in his career.
Click to expand...

See, I heard it was the ladies he was with that kept him up all those nights.
 
candrew said:
Jim Brown of the 1950's would be a 1000 yard rusher in the NFL today.
Click to expand...

Not disagreeing with Jim Brown, if he isn't one, he is certainly top-2/top-3. But what do you mean about 1,000 yard rusher? That's not a significant number. Did you mean 2,000?
 
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