Best ever for each sport

[Dan Mega]

The major ones at least.

NBA- Michael Jordan
NHL- Wayne Gretzky
Golf- Tiger Woods
Tennis- Roger Federer
MLB- Alex Rodriguez
NFL- Walter Payton

I know a few of those guys are still playing but they're putting up numbers like nobody ever has before.

[fquaye14ten]

I don't know, I guess I'll list my five preferred ball players at each sport, since listing the top 1 would be pretty repetitive

NBA: Jordan, Wilt, Bill Russel, Larry Bird, Dr. J

NHL: Patrick Roy, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull, Mario Lemieux

NFL: Payton, Sanders, Montana, Elway, Rice

MLB: Ruth, Williams, Wagner, Dimaggio, Mays (pitchers=Clemens, W. Johnson, Pedro, Koufax, Gibson)

[SoxFan76]

Jordan, Chamberlain, Russell, Magic, Bird
Bonds, Ruth, Williams, Mays, Mantle
Gretzky--they call him the great one for crying out loud
Brown, Payton, Peyton, Elway

Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, Koufax, and look out for Johan

[fquaye14ten]

:cy:

[SABRSox]

NBA- Michael Jordan
NHL- Wayne Gretzky
Golf- Tiger Woods
Tennis- Roger Federer
MLB- Babe Ruth
NFL- Jim Brown

[fquaye14ten]

the only sports where there's any debate are football and basketball.

although, i guess, until woods passes nicklaus's major-wins record, there might be some dispute there

[maurice]

Major US sports have to consider both offense and defense, whenever applicable.

MLB - Babe Ruth - game-changing offensive player + excellent pitcher
NFL - Payton - best all-around player
NBA - MJ - he could do it all with the height of a 2 guard
NHL - hard to say; probably a defenseman
Golf - not a sport; no defense

Combat sports require a distinction between overall and PFP. PFP always is hotly contested, so I'll just go with overall.

Boxing - Ali - extremely debatable, but he was the best when the division was deepest
MMA / NHB - Fedor - old-timers need not apply
Submission Wrestling - Roger Gracie - old-timers need not apply
Non-submission Wrestling - Karelin - absurdly dominant for a LONG time

[IWMB]

The major ones at least.

NBA- Michael Jordan
NHL- Wayne Gretzky
MLB- Ty Cobb
NFL- Chuck Bednarik

yeah, hockey was included

[fquaye14ten]

NHL - hard to say; probably a defenseman


as a former hockey player, I would suggest that defensemen aren't necessarily more important to their team than offensive players as both positions play defense (just like in basketball). However, if you want to look at a great defenseman Bobby Orr has to be it--he essentially revolutionized the defenseman position, showing that a defensive player, asides from being an excellent defender, could bring the puck up the ice himself and score

he was a hell of a player

[maurice]

as a former hockey player, I would suggest that defensemen aren't necessarily more important to their team than offensive players as both positions play defense (just like in basketball).

As a former hockey player, I agree. I'm essentially just explaining why I'm not on the Gretzky / Roy bandwagons.

As great as Jordan was offensively, I would not have picked him if he weren't also a good defensive player.

Similarly, I picked Payton, even though others were better at running with the ball (e.g., Sanders).

[23Ventura]

MLB - Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Alex Rodriguez Pitchers: Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens
NHL - Wayne Gretzky
NBA - Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain
NFL - Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown
Golf - Tiger Woods

[maurice]

Rocky Marciano beat Joe Lewis' ass!

Seriously, any boxer that pre-dates Ali would get destroyed by him. They simply couldn't match his combination of size, quickness, and skill.

[Prope]

the only sports where there's any debate are football and basketball.

although, i guess, until woods passes nicklaus's major-wins record, there might be some dispute there
How is there any debate that M-Jeff is NOT the best ever??

[maurice]

How is there any debate that M-Jeff is NOT the best ever??

Wilt?

[Prope]

No.

[fquaye14ten]

Wilt?

bingo. or bill russel.

i would go with michael, obviously, but there is most certainly debate

[Prope]

I don't see it.

[fquaye14ten]

that's probably because you're a bulls fan

[Prope]

Probably.

But it is not as if I haven't put actual thought into this.

[fquaye14ten]

no, i agree....but if someone asked you "who's the better right-handed hitter, Frank Thomas or Jeff Bagwell," you're going to say Frank, even though it's not exactly a slam dunk

[Prope]

In my defense, I would say Payton for the NFL but I think that is debatable though.


:hug:

[samram]

I don't think Gretzky was quite as bad defensively as some here believe; I always thought of Lemieux as basically a cheery picker who really benefited from playing with guys like Larry Murphy and Paul Coffey who could bring the puck out of their own end as well as anyone. I'm sure Burgh would disagree.

Ruth
Jordan


I don't really know how to say a guy is the greatest football player ever since there are so many different roles a guy could have.

[fquaye14ten]

Agreed, but Michael was one of the smaller guys on the court and he dominated as much as any of the great centers in question. Plus, was anyone more clutch than him? If the shot had to be made, there was no way he was gonna miss.

oh totally. i'm all for mj as the best basketball player.

i'm just saying there are some people who would debate it, and you can make a very strong case for wilt or russel

for instance: who's the better NFL QB: Peyton Manning or Joe Montana?

Clearly Peyton is more talented and has better stats, but if you had to pick one to absolutely win a game for you, it'd be Montana.

Likewise with Wilt and Jordan (although talentwise, Jordan was closer to wilt than Montana is to MAnning)

All of these are debatable.

It's either Payton or Rice in my opinion. They both were easily the best to play their positions. Sanders was faster and had better moves but he was a bit one dimensional while Payton excelled at everything a halfback could. Similarly, there have been guys with better individual tools than Rice but no one touched him overall--Rice is the Payton of receivers. But I think the tiebreaker is that Payton dominated (minimum) as much as Rice on generally much weaker teams. You could also factor in that runningback is a more critical position as it gets a lot more touches.

I say Payton, Jordan, probably Gretzky if not Lemieux, Nicklaus and Ruth. Arod still has something to prove, but the fact that he's in a debate like this while he's still relatively young means he'll probably end up surpassing Ruth.

a-rod will never come close to Ruth

look at A-rod's career BA compared to Ruth's, his career OBP compared to Ruth's, his career OPS compared to Ruth's. Then consider that A-Rod isn't like to improve those numbers--quite the opposite.

The one edge you would give A-Rod (and it's a significant one) is his defense, especially at a much more demanding position.

However, to counter that, you would probably just point to Ruth's PITCHING

[StockdaleforVeep]

nhl-maurice richard, bobby hull, gretzky
mlb-ted williams

[fquaye14ten]

The Wilt and Jordan thing is debatable, I just illustrated why I think Jordan gets the edge. It's a lot easier to dominate a game when you're 7'1".

totally. i agree--prope just asked who else was even in the conversation, and i was trying to explain

[StockdaleforVeep]

The Wilt and Jordan thing is debatable, I just illustrated why I think Jordan gets the edge. It's a lot easier to dominate a game when you're 7'1".

Manute Bol is the tallest nba player ever, despite being able to block shots like women block advances by chips, he sucked offensively

height doesnt mean you are great

[23Ventura]

Manute Bol is the tallest nba player ever, despite being able to block shots like women block advances by chips, he sucked offensively

height doesnt mean you are great

:rolling:

[Spider_Pig]

NBA- Michael Jordan.......................................... someone else.
NHL- Wayne Gretzky......................................... that one guy he played with.
Golf- Tiger Woods
Tennis- Roger Federer
MLB- Ken Griffey Jr. in the 90s, Mantle, Williams, Ruth, Aaron
NFL- Walter Payton, Rice, Smith