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ESPN just released an article on the top athletes of the 21st century. The list is…interesting.
Shocking Phelps is ranked No 1. This is contra evidence against culture war fodder. He is white, male, and I assume straight. But then, their No 2 is Serena. The list is allegedly about how great they were at their sport. There is no good argument where Serena had a better career than Novak Djokovic. Novak has more slams, masters, career grand slams, only golden master, calendar slam, weeks at No 1. And Novak did it against the two other greatest tennis players of all time. Serena’s field was weaker. And of course, Serena wouldn’t last on the ATP whereas Novak wouldn’t lose a set on the WTA.
But Serena became famous for being good at a white sport while being black. And Novak (who shocking is ranked lower than Roger Fed despite clearly being better) is famous for refusing to take the covid vaxx.
So culture war? But then how do I explain Phelps at No 1? Maybe ESPN is just bad at its job? After all Brady is at five. On the other hand, ESPN has a ton of WNBA players on the list. Which is funny. The WNBA is not a good league and doesn’t generate (at least historically) a lot of money. There is no way the three of the top 34 athletes of the 21st century are WNBA players. Yet shockingly no female soccer players that high. What am I missing?
ETA: 8 of the top 100 athletes of the 21st century happen to be WNBA players per ESPN. And that is out of all Olympic sports, soccer, cricket, football, hockey, MMA, etc. Why so many WNBA players — a minor league that wouldn’t generate sufficient revenue to attract this alleged level of talent.
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/40446224/top-100-athletes-21st-century
It's crass, but the simplest heuristic for 'greatness', if taken to mean the person with the most athletic prowess, is money. Fame also counts for something.
The top badminton player this year won about $650,000, approximately on par with the 460th player in the NBA. NBA (or UEFA, or NFL) money attracts far more competition than swimming, track and field, or gymnastics. It is also a measure of popularity and therefore the size of the starting pool of players.
I wouldn't say that Lebron James is superior to Lionel Messi simply because his net worth is twice as high - but I also wouldn't dismiss the notion offhand. But the US is a richer economy than most, and US sports are overpaid. And, again, Messi gets global fame and recognition as the pinnacle of the world's most popular sport. Once you're getting $500 million, you can afford to value those things more than another $500 million.
In short, I don't think most of the olympians have come through as intense a field as the professionals, and are not nearly as much of talent outliers.
The best heuristic for any general GOAT tier list on Popular Website is popularity. Michael Phelps is not nearly as popular as Lionel Messi. But, he exists in the same realm for people who read and write ESPN editorials. Which are primarily non-soccer watching Americans.
My mother would recognize all the top 10 names on this list. Once you get to Novak Djokovic her would knowledge drops off. (She would recognize 5 of the 9 names that follow Djokovic.) Michael Phelps is not as famous as Messi, but in terms of Olympic gold medals he can't be beat. Americans like gold medals. They're great, because we're great. Someone who gets all the gold medals at the Olympics should be top of the list. Any list will do, but especially GOAT lists.
Also, Olympians definitely do not have to prove themselves the same as world class spectator sport athletes. That's what makes the Olympics cool. Highly dedicated non-pros -- that now receive oodles of money from their respective countries to train -- get one or two shots in a lifetime to get the glory. Messi goes out there every week for 20 years.
Now, who the hell is Diana Taurasi?
Editor's note: Badminton is as fun as fun gets. We need to close the #wagegap between badminton players and other people playing more difficult, popular sports. The top 30 badminton pros should make as much as starters on the USWNT.
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