Jim Thorpe
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Total of 8,359 votes - click on the "Display Comments" bar below to sort comments
9.6%
Usain Bolt
801 votes
25.7%
Michael Jordan
2,152 votes
7.1%
Tiger Woods
592 votes
9.9%
Muhammad Ali
830 votes
5%
Jim Brown
420 votes
42.6%
Other
3,564 votes
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Newsvine Discussion with 165 comments - Click here to jump to the comment form.
{"commentId":8958670,"authorDomain":"danskemand"}
Go Air-Jordan! He completely dominated his game. If any of you newbies think Coby or Shaq or whoever is good, go look at films of Jordan, go look at the number of wins he piled up for his team each season, go look at what happened to the poor bulls the season after he left. He made an okay team into the best team ever, (only 10 losses for a full season). I like Mike!
{"commentId":8958670,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"danskemand"}
#1 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:02 PM EDT{"commentId":8959489,"authorDomain":"tyler"}
Allen Iverson or Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
{"commentId":8959489,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"tyler"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":8959726,"authorDomain":"ttking"}
Hey Tom do you even watch basketball? And if you do please let me know who "Coby" is?
You might be referring to KOBE Bryant. Nice one buddy. GO LAKESHOW!!! Back to Back is coming
{"commentId":8959726,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"ttking"}
{"commentId":8960082,"authorDomain":"taz968"}
"Go" read the question again. It asks "Who is greatest athlete of all-time?" Not the gratest basketball player. Actually, Michael Jordan may not even be the "best" basketball player of all time. Didn't Bill Russell win 9 or so championships? Michael Jordan only won 6.
{"commentId":8960082,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"taz968"}
{"commentId":8960504,"authorDomain":"rfields836"}
The number of championships won has nothing to do with personal athetlicism. That's like saying Karl Malone (14 time All Star, scored 2nd most points in NBA history - more than Michael Jordan) wasn't athetlic because he never won a single NBA championship.
{"commentId":8960504,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"rfields836"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":8963002,"authorDomain":"tyler"}
You might be referring to KOBE Bryant.
Who probably isn't in the discussion, and neither should Jordan be. LeBron James, Iverson, maybe Oscar Robertson and Pete Maravich are really the only NBA players that should be in the discussion for most athletic.
Oh, Lisa Leslie and Cheryl Miller, too. Freaks of nature.
{"commentId":8963002,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"tyler"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":8977373,"authorDomain":"plannerdave"}
Look at the record books. Jordon doesn't come close to Chamberlain - and I mean not even close. Chamberlain holds all the records: points, rebounds, minutes played in a season (averaged more than 48 minutes a game!), led the league in assists one year. Plus all the rules changes because of Wilt: goal tending, widening the lane, and free throws. Jordan was the best over the last 40 years, but sorry - Chamberlain leads em all.
{"commentId":8977373,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"plannerdave"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":8978535,"authorDomain":"tyler"}
Jordon doesn't come close to Chamberlain - and I mean not even close.
Wilt Chamberlain was an awesome, awesome basketball player. Probably five best all-time. Not in the discussion for best athlete, and citing statistics is silly because basketball has the most inflated era ever - right when Wilt played.
100 points will never be broken in the NBA. Ever ever ever.
{"commentId":8978535,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"tyler"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":8980242,"authorDomain":"vosm"}
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
I was thinking the same thing when this turned up on my front page.
{"commentId":8980242,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"vosm"}
{"commentId":9006927,"authorDomain":"carpe-diem-2"}
{"commentId":9393485,"authorDomain":"norcal55"}
On the voting part it is so nice to see so many people recognising the person I think is the greatest athlete of the century, Jim Thorpe. Bravo!
{"commentId":9393485,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"norcal55"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":8959000,"authorDomain":"moral-authority-1"}
MJ all the way. Then Ali. Going 15 rounds in a heavyweight fight is something that can't be explained until you try it. Usian Bolt? Great runner but you're just running, after all. Running, well, while I think it's competitive, it's not comparable to a physical battle like contact sports that define most athletic qualities. Car Lewis or Edwin Moses are still clearly the best.
{"commentId":8959000,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"moral-authority-1"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:15 PM EDT{"commentId":8959454,"authorDomain":"rekla"}
There have been some great ones, but now we have the one, Bolt. unlike other sports which have been new comers athletics soccer etc are world renown. Basketball in mainly American and some European centric. Boxing is world wide. So is athletics, and soccer. while not taking anything from the rest of the new sports the feats of Bolt are phenomenal
{"commentId":8959454,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"rekla"}
- 1 vote
#3 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:31 PM EDT{"commentId":8960071,"authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
Well said, Dwayne.
{"commentId":8960071,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
{"commentId":8959474,"authorDomain":"lnarcisse"}
In a sport where he competes against the world's best, Tiger Woods has proven he is the best of the best. By the time he is done playing, he might win 140 tournaments!! Stop and think about that (the player with the most wins has 88 and is deceased)! Golf is a very difficult sport to master and more world players are playing than ever before. Tiger already holds most of the records that matter and he is only 33!
{"commentId":8959474,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"lnarcisse"}
- 1 vote
#4 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:32 PM EDT{"commentId":8959531,"authorDomain":"northendlocal"}
Quite possibly the most gifted natural athlete in the past century is Clarence "Ace" Parker.... Google him.
{"commentId":8959531,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"northendlocal"}
- 2 votes
#5 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:34 PM EDT{"commentId":8959705,"authorDomain":"jda-1288765"}
I'd have to say Lance Armstrong. He has excelled, and dominated, in an individual sport. Ali would have to be a close second. Not to take away from MJ, he is a great athlete, but he played a team sport, and I do believe that had he had lesser players around him, say on the Clippers or the Hawks, he would not have won the championships. And, despite the individual achievement, that is what sport is all about, championships. Lance has that, and owes it mostly to himself and his ability and perserverance. Tiger...again, not to take away from his incredible ability or dominance of his sport, but golf does not require the overall athleticism that more active sports do. Game of skill, absolutely, and Tiger is one fit man, but the strength and endurance needed to complete 54-72 holes of golf do not compare with the strength and endurance needed to complete the Tour de France.
{"commentId":8959705,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"jda-1288765"}
#6 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:40 PM EDT{"commentId":8959708,"authorDomain":"jalbrecht"}
Jim Thorpe hands down
{"commentId":8959708,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"jalbrecht"}
- 3 votes
#7 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:40 PM EDT{"commentId":8959744,"authorDomain":"jnholloway"}
Gordie Howe. Who else played and had an impact in a major professional team sport past the age of 50? Second choice is Jim Thorpe. Third is Bo Jackson. They were stars in multiple sports. Jordan tried baseball and couldn't come close to even being mediocre so there is no reason for him to even be considered.
{"commentId":8959744,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"jnholloway"}
#8 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:42 PM EDT{"commentId":8959756,"authorDomain":"tebbinghaus"}
Thank you for mentionining Jim Thorpe...he could do it all and did...
{"commentId":8959756,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"tebbinghaus"}
- 1 vote
#9 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:42 PM EDT{"commentId":8964314,"authorDomain":"thorndawg"}
Thorpe was the best ever, and no one will ever come close.
{"commentId":8964314,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"thorndawg"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":8959772,"authorDomain":"gwest40"}
The greatest athlete of all time must be someone who has excelled in more than one sport.
Bob Gibson - MLB Hall of Fame pitcher and a former Harlem Globetrotter.
Bo Jackson - NFL and MLB
Deion Sanders - NFL and MLB
Danny Ainge - NBA and MLB
Jordan? Great basketball player, but was dreaming big-time when considering MLB or even the PGA.
{"commentId":8959772,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"gwest40"}
#10 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:42 PM EDT{"commentId":8959994,"authorDomain":"taz968"}
Americans need to expand their sports horizon. Baseball, American Football & basketball are nowhere near as global as real football & track & field.
Bob Gibson, Bo Jackson, etc.? Maybe on a list of best US athlete of all time but certainly not on an international level.
{"commentId":8959994,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"taz968"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":8960012,"authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
Both Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders had occurred to me. They were both very, very good at both professional sports they participated in, and against some equally good opposition.
And here's one that I add reluctantly: Most people know that O.J. Simpson was one of the best NFL running backs ever, being the first to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, and setting many other records. But many people don't know that while at USC, he was part of a world-record holding 4 x 100 meter relay team.
Again, reluctant, but it's true. One of the best American athletes ever, but ask anyone today, especially if they're under the age of 30, what he's most famous for.
{"commentId":8960012,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
{"commentId":8959783,"authorDomain":"taz968"}
No human has ever been a more rounded "athlete" than Jim Thorpe!
{"commentId":8959783,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"taz968"}
- 2 votes
#11 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:43 PM EDT{"commentId":8959806,"authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
I'm not a big fan of Usain Bolt and his grandstanding, but on the basis of a single sport, he has to be the best ever. Speed is important in almost any sport, and Bolt is significantly faster than anyone else who ever lived. Further, there are tens of millions of people worldwide who compete in his event (the 100 m dash). He beat the best in the world by a substantial margin during the Olympics, right through today.
As of today, I'd have to say that Micheal Phelps is second best ever, based on his dominance in his sport, and as with Bolt, against the best in the world in a sport where tens of millions compete.
Michael Jordan should not be in the group. He was the beneficiary of many bad officiating calls, perhaps more than anyone else in recent professional sports memory. Further, when he tried another sport, baseball, his lack of athletic ability became evident.
Tiger Woods, while competing in a less competitive sport, currently dominates the sport because he is one of its true athletes. In a sport that sees a lot of guys who carry around an extra 20-30 pounds, Tiger at least looks like he could participate in another sport, like baseball or even football.
{"commentId":8959806,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
#12 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:43 PM EDT{"commentId":8961626,"authorDomain":"bgaineshunter-1"}
Golf is not at all athletic. It's a game.
{"commentId":8961626,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"bgaineshunter-1"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":8959824,"authorDomain":"smarterthanyou1"}
Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, winning 7 consecutive times. No other athletic endeavour requires the eating of 8,000 to 11,000 calories per day (and they still loose body mass over the length of the event) just to keep going for 21 days of punishment. Sure, every athlete talked about here is at the top of their sport, but none of their sports require the massive output of physicality - quick burst of energy, endurance - of such a sustained period of time.
{"commentId":8959824,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"smarterthanyou1"}
- 1 vote
#13 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:44 PM EDT{"commentId":8960460,"authorDomain":"tex31"}
Agreed. None of these other atheletes could even ride up the Alps one day.
{"commentId":8960460,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"tex31"}
{"commentId":8959891,"authorDomain":"taz968"}
Usain Bolt doesn't "grandstand". He's simply exuberant and understands the importance of enjoying the moment.
{"commentId":8959891,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"taz968"}
- 1 vote
#14 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:46 PM EDT{"commentId":8960368,"authorDomain":"alton-r-ettwein"}
I agree that Bolt is enthusiastic, but I've been involved in athletics / track & field officiating for about 30 years at the high school, college, and national levels, and if almost any coach I've ever known would have coached Bolt, they would have told him to stop his antics at the finish line. Exuberance is understandable, but actually looking at the other guy while celebrating, and before your event is even finished, is hot-dogging in my mind.
Having said that, I hope he cools his jets in celebrating before finishing, because I really do enjoy watching him run. For anyone of his height to beat the rest of the field out of the blocks, and to hold that lead, reminds me more of top-fuel dragster racing than the 100-meter dash.
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{"commentId":8960758,"authorDomain":"taz968"}
I think you simply don't understand/know Jamaican culture or track & field history. What you call "celebrating" was actually the release of 50+ years of track & field frustration plus the acknowledgement of the joy he just brought 2.8 million people.
Jamaica has always by far had the best sprinters in the world based on average population, e.g. Donald Quarrie, Raymond Stewart, Merlene Ottey, Grace Jackson. Often times the best sprinters were actually born & raised in Jamaica but ran for the US or Great Britain or Canada, e.g Lenford Christie, Sanya Richards. Other times something almost always seemed to go wrong, e.g. bad starts, injuries in the semi-finals. That goes for both men & women.
Finally, Bolt did the "celebrating before the finish" thing, as you call it, one time, i.e. in the Bejing 100 M. He hasn't done it since. He doesn't need to. The pressure of having an entire country depending on you is now off. He can just enjoy himself before, during & after each race. Have you ever heard any of his competitors complain about any of Bolt's so-called antics?
{"commentId":8960758,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"taz968"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":9291399,"authorDomain":"nigel-4"}
The problem is that the island just isn't long enough for Bolt to get up to full speed!!
{"commentId":9291399,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"nigel-4"}
{"commentId":8959902,"authorDomain":"d12345"}
Lance Armstrong
{"commentId":8959902,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"d12345"}
- 1 vote
#15 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:46 PM EDT{"commentId":8959962,"authorDomain":"adrusso"}
lance armstrong, jim thorpe
{"commentId":8959962,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"adrusso"}
- 2 votes
#16 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:48 PM EDT{"commentId":8959969,"authorDomain":"eric-1248279"}
All of those guys are one sport or two sport athletes. Anyone who has a gold medal in a decathlon should be considered the greatest athletes. They have 10 sports to compete against the world in. Making them better all around athletes than anyone listed above.
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#17 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:48 PM EDT{"commentId":8960005,"authorDomain":"jnehmer1"}
I'm a track nut and I consider Bolt, after his five world record performances in the last two World Championships, to be the best track athlete of all time.
In football and basketball when they talk about raw "athletic ability" they are referring to speed and jumping ability.
I don't know about Bolt's jumping ability, but in the most universal of all sports (along with soccer) and in the oldest and most elemental sport......Bolt now stands alone.
He is by far the greatest ever in the most elemental, universal test of athleticism.
{"commentId":8960005,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"jnehmer1"}
#18 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:49 PM EDT{"commentId":8960063,"authorDomain":"gnuhawk"}
I don't think there is any question the best all-around athlete in history was Jim Thorpe. He is also one of the most glaring cases of injustice concerning his medal controversy. A clear cut case of racism...
{"commentId":8960063,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"gnuhawk"}
- 1 vote
#19 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:52 PM EDT{"commentId":8961698,"authorDomain":"bgaineshunter-1"}
But how would Jim Thorpe fair today in competition with bigger, stronger, and faster athletes? I'm not saying that he's not the best. What I am saying is that the question needs to be broken down my era.
{"commentId":8961698,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"bgaineshunter-1"}
{"commentId":8964467,"authorDomain":"thorndawg"}
If he were around today, he would have all the same training and nutrition as athletes of today. He, himself would have been stronger and faster.
{"commentId":8964467,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"thorndawg"}
{"commentId":8960097,"authorDomain":"a1cec"}
For pure athleticism: Barishnikov could outlast any of those listed with possible exception of Armstrong.
{"commentId":8960097,"threadId":"655990","contentId":"3173810","authorDomain":"a1cec"}
#20 - Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:53 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"655990","isPrivate":false}
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By far the greatest ever in the most elemental, universal test of athleticism.