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Who is the most talented pro athlete of all time?

SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

I love pineapple on pizza!
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,506
Earth, 21st Century
I don't follow sports, and hell, I'm not even living in America at the moment, but I see Tom Brady all over people's feeds and in local conversation among friends. I get that he's really good, but how does he compare to other GOATs like Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, etc.?

Who do you think is the most talented? I know that every sport is very different, but you can look at common factors like records broken, consecutive victories, length of time in the spotlight, etc.

Educate me as a total sports newbie.
 
M. Wallace

M. Wallace

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Oct 25, 2017
23,130
Midwest
Barry Sanders

His 1988 season (college)

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TSM

TSM

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Oct 27, 2017
5,822
Watch the 30 for 30 on Bo jackson. He was a freak of nature.
 
TheHunter

TheHunter

Bold Bur3n Wrangler
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
25,774
Bo Jackson.

Honorary mentions

Wilt the Stilt
Gretzky.
Barry Sanders.
MJ
 
ScaleboundGOTY

ScaleboundGOTY

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Nov 7, 2017
2,980
I agree with Ronaldinho. No one before or since is anywhere near his league in raw talent in his couple years of prime.
 
Chan

Chan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,334
Raiders would've probably won 2-3 Super Bowls with a healthy Bo and Marcus Allen
 
M. Wallace

M. Wallace

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Oct 25, 2017
23,130
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Yeah...maybe Gretzky

Gretzky set records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857) and hat-tricks (50). The next closest player in total points for the regular season is Jaromir Jagr at 1,921,[1] thus Gretzky had more career assists than any other player has total points. Gretzky scored his first 1,000 points faster (424 games) than any other player in NHL history, and scored a second 1,000 points (point number 1,001 through 2,000) faster (433 games) than any player other than himself. Gretzky's point total including regular season and playoffs stands at an imposing 3,239 (1,016 goals, 2,223 assists).
 
Dommo

Dommo

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Oct 25, 2017
1,687
Australia
As someone who loves to compare things and generally gets annoyed at people who say things like "they're apples and oranges" for two things that can clearly be compared... it's really not worth comparing the greatest athletes of all time across sports. There are just so many weird variables and quirks of the sport and really depends on what questions you're asking.

Are you saying who has the most raw talent? Like who could stroll into whatever sport they liked and dominate given enough time? Impossible to say. While you'd think LeBron could excel at any sport thrown at him, while Federer probably wouldn't be a great NFL player, who could honestly say? Sports by their nature demand very different skill sets and body types from one to the other. One might require good, long distance cardio, another short bursts of speed, some you require extremely fast reflexes, others moreso patience, resilience and nerve.
Or who has achieved the most within their sports? I dunno. How can you compare Michael Jordan who's won 6 rings to Federer who's won 20 grand slams? How could you possibly say one has achieved more than the other? It's not easily convertible into a common vocabulary.

EDIT: For those saying "wrap it up, lock the thread" for goodness sake...

No one's even mentioned Donald Bradman yet who was so much better than his cricket contemporaries it's laughable.

CricketBattingAverageHistogram.png


He averaged a run rate (score) of 99.94. The next best run rate ever is 61.87.
 
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OfficerRob

OfficerRob

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,100
Gretzky

Nine league MVP's including EIGHT in a row. More assists than anyone in the history of the NHL has points. Gretzky's numbers are ridiculous
 
Big-E

Big-E

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Oct 25, 2017
3,169
It's Bo. You can throw Primetime in there too. These two were able to play two sports at the highest level.
 

Deleted member 14377

User requested account closure
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13,520
AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CEEENNAAAAAAA

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  1. WWE Championship - 13 times
  2. World Heavyweight Championship - 3 times
  3. WWE Tag Team Championship - 2 times
  4. WWE United States Championship - 5 times
  5. World Tag Team Championship - 2 times
  6. 2012 Money in the Bank winner
  7. 2 time Royal Rumble Winner
  8. 3 time Super Star of the Year Slammy Award winner
  9. OVW Heavyweight Championship - 1 time
  10. OVW Southern Tag Team Championship - 1 time
  11. UPW Heavyweight Championship - 1 time

And that's not even counting his PWI awards. No other person has ever been so dominant.
 
JaY P.

JaY P.

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Oct 27, 2017
333
Paradise
I swear this thread comes up about once a year. If we are talking just pure natural talent and not championships, the answer is Bo Jackson. The man had super human hand-eye coordination, speed, and strength. His first hit in the Major Leagues is a great example of his natural ability.

 
PassiveObserver

PassiveObserver

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,179
Barry Bonds. #4 all-time leader in WAR or Wins Above Replacement, but #1 among players who played after integration.
 
DOT_mjo

DOT_mjo

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May 8, 2018
8,650
Boston "City of Champions" Massachusetts
Tom Brady might be the greatest sports player of all-time. Talented, no he isn't the most talented. Athletic, no he isn't athletic at all.

I would say the most talented pro athlete of all-time is either between Lebron James or Cristiano GOAT Ronaldo.
 
Big-E

Big-E

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,169
It's not Gretzky. Gretzky is not the most talented player. He wasn't the fastest, he wasn't the most physically imposing, etc. If we are going by talent alone, I don't think he qualifies. You could argue that Lemieux was more talented in regards to Gretzky.
 

ZiggyPalffyLA

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
4,504
Los Angeles, California
Frecklestein said:
AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CEEENNAAAAAAA

R6ct.gif


  1. WWE Championship - 13 times
  2. World Heavyweight Championship - 3 times
  3. WWE Tag Team Championship - 2 times
  4. WWE United States Championship - 5 times
  5. World Tag Team Championship - 2 times
  6. 2012 Money in the Bank winner
  7. 2 time Royal Rumble Winner
  8. 3 time Super Star of the Year Slammy Award winner
  9. OVW Heavyweight Championship - 1 time
  10. OVW Southern Tag Team Championship - 1 time
  11. UPW Heavyweight Championship - 1 time

And that's not even counting his PWI awards. No other person has ever been so dominant.
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Lol this is a joke right
 
Luap

Luap

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,867
Babe Ruth

The power he displayed as a hitter was completely unheard of before him and still rare after he retired. It would be 10 years after Ruth smashed the 50-homer barrier that another player would get to that plateau, by which time Ruth would have done it three more times.

Not until 1929 did all the top 10 home run hitters in the Majors reach the 30-homer mark and it would be the 50s before it became commonplace for 10 or more players to hit 30 in a season. Ruth hit 30 or better 13 times in a 14-year span.

And he did it all while maintaining a stratospheric batting average and getting walked over 100 times per year and while providing solid corner outfield defense to the Yankees day after day.

When you add in the fact that he was one of the top handful of pitchers at the start of his career, it becomes apparent that we're talking about a different kind of cat when we talk about the Babe. This was a complete ballplayer the like of which had never been seen before and will likely never be seen again.
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The Raw Numbers
  • Career Home Runs: 714 (the most in MLB history when he retired, now third most)
  • Career Batting Average: .342 (10th-best all-time)
  • Career OPS: 1.164 (first all-time)
  • Career RBI: 2,213 (second all-time)
  • Career W-L record as a pitcher: 94-46
  • Career ERA: 2.28
  • World Series Winner seven times
  • Set record for home runs in a season (29), then broke it three more times (54, 59 and 60)
  • Set record (since broken) for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in World Series (29.7)
  • Stole 123 bases in his career
  • Member of first Hall of Fame class (1936)
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Deleted member 42055

User requested account closure
Banned
Apr 12, 2018
11,215
DOT_mjo said:
Tom Brady might be the greatest sports player of all-time. Talented, no he isn't the most talented. Athletic, no he isn't athletic at all.

I would say the most talented pro athlete of all-time is either between Lebron James or Cristiano GOAT Ronaldo.
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LOL CR7 , absolute garbage take . He's probably one of the most athletic footballers ever, one of the best scorers ever, one of the best footballing IQ's ever, but he's doesnt beat Messi on overall on-paper footballing talent.
 

Figgles

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
2,568
I haven't seen the 30 for 30, but every time Bo Jackson comes up, I read about him... I don't get the hype. He was pretty good at 2 sports, but great at neither. A .250 hitter in MLB... 16 touchdowns in 4 seasons in the NFL... what am I missing?
 
Stiler

Stiler

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
6,659
Sugar Ray Robinson imo.
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I mean he had a 91 unbeaten fight streak.

He fought many great top boxers of his era.
 
ty_hot

ty_hot

Banned
Dec 14, 2017
7,176
In the "make everybody else look like amateur" category I think it is hard to not say Bolt was the greatest. He basically did a similar thing to what Germany did with Brazil in football (7x1), but he did that in the final of 2 different categories in 3 different Olympics (12 years apart). Not even counting those 2 golds in 4x100m. Also got gold in all World Championship in between those Olympic conquests.

He literally won a fckng sprint race, beating the World Record, even though he stopped running meters before the finish line and also looking back and opening his arms... Totally effortless.

As an individual, it's hard to beat. Michael Phelps comes close, but too many of his achievements are team based and he got a few silvers and bronzes along the way too.
 
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