Who Is Your Favorite Professional Athlete Of All-Time

[THUNDER HANDS]

Either someone you grew up watching and fell in love with, or someone you just ultimately respect a great deal for their talents and physical abilities?

My favorite all-time athlete is the man that I consider to be the best pure shooter in NBA history and probably in all of professional basketball history.

The late, great, Drazen Petrovic of the New Jersey Nets and (earlier) the Portland Trailblazers.

Petrovic was the greatest 3-point shooter I ever saw, the greatest outside and mid-range shooter also. If he had an open shot, he never missed (actually I saw him miss an open shot twice, and I find it cool that i can actually remember both times - which should give you an idea of how rarely he missed open jumpers).

That guy got me into basketball. He was, and is, my sports hero.

Who's yours?

[swag]

1. Muhummad Ali!

[DenverDem]

5. Ditto.

It's "Muhammad", BTW.

I'm a big fan of Ben Hogan, who came back from what should have been a fatal head on car crash with a freaking bus, to rehab himself from crushed legs and multiple fractures to return to championship form, and he never resort to a golf cart.

[CO Liberal]

23. Especially When He Lit The Torch In Atlanta

A classic scene, with a classic man.

[VOX]

26. Lining up for Muhammad Ali. Showman, genius, counter-culture hero.

And a terrific athlete and humanitarian.

To quote The Greatest: "When I quit boxing, the game died."

[LowerManhattanite]

44. Ali. Plain and simple.

The very first things I remember reading in a paper as a child was coverage of his fights with "Big Cat" Williams, Ernie Terrell and George Chuvalo as well as the week to week coverage of his battle against the government insofar as his conscientious objector status.

He was also a family friend. He hired my dad's restaurant's chef (Lana Shabazz) away to become his personal chef. Feeling a little bad about it, the champ often had my family as wekend guests at his training camps in Deer Lake and Cherry Valley.

He was such an incredibly kind, funny and generous man who loved having a multitude of kids around.

He walked it like he talked it. Amazing man. Amazing.

[devilgrrl]

2. Arthur Ashe

Roberto Clemente
Jesse Owens
Mohammed Ali
Jackie Robinson
Wilma Rudolph

[Mr.Green93]

3. Jesse Owens

[MissMillie]

4. Bjorn Borg

Man, he was tough to beat.

[mrboba1]

6. Ryne Sandberg

because the day in 1984 I was at Wrigley Field, he hit 2 HRs off of Bruce Sutter and beat those damned Redbirds!!!

[Catshrink]

18. I named my cat Ryno

When we watched the games on TV, she'd go nuts when Harry said Ryno this and Ryno that.... Where was that coming from? Here is my beautiful baby:

[Sticky]

7. Kurt Browning

Canada's 4 time world champ figure skater. I've met him several times, too! :-)

[Lavender Brown]

10. Really?

I always thought he was cool. He used to skate to the music from Casablanca dressed up in a tux like Rick/Bogart. That was so cute!

[VelmaD]

17. You should see him...

in the shiny leather pants skating to "Brick House". Hubba hubba. :)

[Sticky]

30. He's a fantastic person too

I spent a lot of time at a children's hospital paliative care unit and Kurt came in to visit several times. He was an absolute gift to those kids. A few years later I saw him again at a medal presentation and he looked my way and said, "Hi Kate" I was shocked he remembered me! :-)

[Westegg]

8. A tie, I guess: Ali and Roberto Clemente...

Ali's talents were supreme, but it's Ali the MAN that I respect. I'm not otherwise a huge boxing fan for so many reasons. Clemente because he was my boyhood idol, growing up in Pittsburgh as I did. Grace, charisma, and so much talent, and a wonderful soul (though he was a complex man who was often misunderstood). In the end, he gave his life while trying to help others. I guess I was nine when he died---first time the death of another human ever hit home for me.

[Beware the Beast Man]

31. Sadly, Clemente was before my time

Definitely as class act, though.

[Arbustosux]

9. Al Kaline

a guy with class

[Flaxbee]

11. Secretariat

I would LOVE to see the footage of his win in the Belmont Stakes, 31 lengths ahead of the field. What a magnificent creature.

[HuckleB]

12. "Did you ever know that your my heeeeeer-oooooo!"

I dunno. Of all time? How can one not love the likes of Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Clemente, Eddy Merckx and so many others for what they did in competition and away from competition? Yet, I never got to see any of them perform live, at least in their prime.

I grew up adoring Robin Yount for his all-around skills, though his politics now drive me nuts. Eric Heiden inspired me to train and exercise year-round, which got me into so many of the things I now love: cycling, hiking, nordic skiing, kayaking. Walter Payton was one of the few players to give me any interest in football as a spectator, with Brett Favre as his modern equivalent. I dunno, I love the plucky underdogs, like Thomas Voeckler in this year's TDF (or Tyler Hamilton last year), like the Florida Marlins in last year's World Series, like the Calgary Flames in this year's Stanley Cup. For me, that's why I waste my time on sport as a spectator. It's the corny story of hope and will that can be transferred to life in general, if one allows for a certain imagination, and doesn't imagination get us all through many a day?

Salud!

[Jack_Dawson]

13. Bill Buckner

Dude gets a bad rap. He is only remembered for that one play but he was a perennial all-star.

[mrboba1]

16. absolutely!

Yrs G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA
22 Seasons 2517 9397 1077 2715 498 49 174 1208 450 453 183 73 .289

[Magrittes Pipe]

14. Ali.

I'm a baseball fan, but my baseball list would be as long as my arm.

[MrBenchley]

15. John Unitas

Old Hightops was a classy guy who never forgot where he came from...

[argyl]

21. Johnny U is my pick also.

[OneBlueSky]

19. Jackie Robinson . . . followed closely by . . .

Sandy Koufax and Larry Bird . . .

on edit: oops . . . almost forgot to mention Ali . . . and completing my top five would probably be John Havlicek . . .

[Catshrink]

20. Walter Payton

RIP Sweetness.

[tcfrogs]

22. Greg Maddux

And he's only about 5 years older than me, I just totally respect & admire his talent.

[frylock]

24. earvin magic johnson..

followed closely by Tony Gwynn. I'll never forget the day Petro was killed. That guy had so much potential.

[ceile]

25. Hakeem Olajuwon

Or maybe Warren Moon

[bushisanidiot]

27. Tie: Mark McGwire and Steffi Graf

After watching McGwire hit a towering homerun into the upper deck one day at Busch stadium, I screamed to him that I wanted to have his baby.. and I'm a LESBIAN!! ;)

What can I say about Steffi. Just love her.. that's all :)

[LWolf]

28. Joe Hancock. n/t

[Cybergata]

29. Billy Jean King & Arthur Ashe Were Inspirational

...and, I've adored Andre Agassi & Bjorn Borg. I also have a major crush on James Blake. Oh yes, Wilt Chamberlain.


:hippie:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

32. Magic Johnson, without a doubt. Taught me to love the game of

basketball.

[Rowdyboy]

33. Archie Manning

Grew up during his glory days at Ole Miss.

[Burma Jones]

34. As a Kid, it was Sonny Jurgensen, now, Lance Armstrong

Holy Cow, Armstrong is like Secretariat, not in the same league......

[Kickin_Donkey]

35. Willie Mays ...

Say Hey 660 ...

[lpbk2713]

36. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Ali is and was truly "The Greatest".

[mitchum]

37. Jim Brown

[ChoralScholar]

38. Gotta say Nolan Ryan

No one has even come close to touching him since he retired. And, seemingly, he is a good person also.

[Pendrench]

39. Eddie Murray

Before Eddie it was Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, and Ken Singleton.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

40. John Stockton

Without a doubt, the greatest athlete produced by the state of Washington. Far and away the NBA's greatest point guard. All time leader in steals and assists. Tremendous shooter. Almost never missed a game. And also, just a good guy. At a time when NBA players are trying to be rap stars, choking coaches, being primadonnas, and knocking up women in every city in America, he was just a nice, normal guy.

[Bunny]

41. Roberto Clemente. n/t

[NewHampshireDem]

42. Emmett Smith

Because not only was he a great running back, but he was a class act as well. He was always the first one to offer an opposing player a pat on the back for a good hit or a hand up after he lowered his shoulder and knocked 'em on their asses.



And what kind of democrats are we? No one has mentioned Bill Bradley!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

43. Jim Thorpe

although of course I never saw him compete because it was in the early 20th Century. Olympics Gold Medalist, accomplished pro football player, track star, baseball player, Thorpe is one of the amazing stories of sports and the human spirit. The Sac & Fox Native American unfortunately had his Olympic Medals stripped away from him, in an age when playing a few weeks of semi-pro baseball was considered an extreme taboo. Muhammed Ali is a close 2nd for the same reasons. Both are great Americans and should be forever honored.

[KG]

45. Sonny Jurgensen

[WindRavenX]

46. Derek Jeter and Lance Armstrong

My heros!

[PopSixSquish]

47. Willie Mays

BTW - Willie Mays was the on-deck batter when Bobby Thomson hit his famous pennant-winning home run, "The Shot Heard 'Round the World," on October 3, 1951