Favorite athletes

You know the drill. New-age or old-days athlete is both okay. With reasons if you wanna.

Mine~

Football : Barry Sanders. See any highlight videos of him breaking defender's ankle and you'll see why i love this guy.

Tennis : Tim Henman. I'm a huge fan of serve-and-volley style, and this man plays it best.

Baseball : Tim Lincecum. The guy's shorter than me and he throws 96 mph fastballs. Unreal.

Basketball : Ben Wallace. Underrated. While he doesn't bring much offense to the table, what he does on defense is.....awesome. Check out some of his mix on youtube.

Hockey : Mark Messier. Grace on ice personified.

Soccer : Peter Schmeichel. Best GK ever.

I think this covers it.

Welcome back, mnx.

Mine are the following:

Football: Peyton Manning because of his dedication to the game and was QB at my college. Steve Smith would be a close second because that man is lightning fast and has amazing hands.

Soccer: Ronaldinho. That man has such good foot skills. :shock:

Hockey: Pavel Datsyuk because he is the best dangler in the league. Steve Yzerman is probably my all-time favorite though.

Baseball: Josh Hamilton for what he did at the last Home Run Derby and because of his comeback story from being a druggie.

Basketball: LeBron James because he has the most potential to best the best player in the league because of his athleticism. Kobe performs the best right now, but LBJ can physically do things that Kobe can't. And Vince Carter because of this:


Tennis: My favorite athlete is the underdog. Always. Or whoever has the best chance to beat Federer and Nadal. :roll:

Golf: Tiger Woods. Tiger is THE face of the PGA and golf around the world. He is the only reason I ever watch golf. The things that man pulls off are unbelievable.

US Football - Bryan Westbrook. He's an alum of my high school, as well as a guy who made it big time despite being played off as too small and being picked quite late. He has been able to carve out a role as an elite receiving back.

Baseball - don't watch enough to have one

Hockey - Dominik Hasek, I always loved watching him. Completely flaunted Roy's butterfly for a unique style often described as "flopping around like a fish" and became one of the greatest goalies of all time. When he played for the Sabres, it seemed like every year he almost singlehandedly won them at least one playoff series.

Tennis - Nadal, I like his old school defensive game. He's the antithesis of someone like Roddick who has a monster serve but isn't really a truly great tennis player otherwise.

Soccer - don't get enough of it in the US. I loved watching the German team's aggressive and open play in the 2006 World Cup though.

Basketball - the one and only LeBron James. He's already the best player in the league and made history a number of times. Probably the first player since Jordan who has even the smallest most outside shot of challenging Jordan for the title of greatest ever. Everyone knows he can score and rebound and has otherworldly athleticism, but the guy is also an amazing passer, better than most of the PGs in the league. And while he had that moment where he refused to shake hands after the Orlando loss, he's really been very mature about everything and has a lot of loyalty to Akron and Cleveland. Here's to hoping he doesn't leave in 2010(I don't think he will, but you never know).



LeBron is already better than Kobe and in fact the best overall player in the NBA right now. Kobe has a much better team around him(Pau Gasol = All-NBA, Mo Williams = All-star reserve) and is still one of the best players in the game, which is why the Lakers won the title, but Kobe's insane skill with his jump shot and general beautiful textbook basketball form are really the only things he has on LeBron at this point. LeBron is a better passer, driver, rebounder, shotblocker, and didn't spend years pissing off teammates. Kobe is great and has proven to be a winner, but I think LeBron will win some titles as well before his career is over, and right now, LeBron is a better basketball player than Kobe. The stats back it up too.

LeBron is not as clutch as Kobe is in the 4th quarter yet. When it comes down to the need to make shots in the 4th quarter in clutch moments, Kobe easily beats LeBron James. I agree LBJ is an overall better player when it comes to most stats because he comes closer than anyone to averaging a freakin' triple double every game. LBJ needs to work on his free throws and his 3-pointers first. It is hard to put into words without contradicting myself all over the place. I think LBJ is definitely the best overall player, but if I wanted anyone in the 4th quarter taking shots it would definitely be Kobe. 8)

Well, there's a reason they play for 48 minutes . . . Even assuming Kobe is better in the clutch, I'll still take the guy who is going to give me on average more over the course of the entire game.

However, if you define "clutch" as "4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points,"(which is a common definition of clutch for statkeeping) here is how they stack up: 82games clutch stats 2008-09

In this, I think LeBron still looks better. Kobe has the most points per 48. but LeBron is more accurate on twos, threes, rebounds better, passes, better, steals more, and blocks more. LeBron also has a substantially better +/-, despite the fact that very few would dispute the claim that Kobe has better teammates.

If you have to take one contested jumper at the end of a game, then yes, Kobe is probably your guy, since he is unparalleled at that. However, even on the last play of the game, you can look to drive, draw a foul, assist someone else, get a rebound for another shot if there are a few seconds left. I actually would guess that the reason Kobe has a worse FG% in the clutch according to these 82games stats is not because he is not as good a shooter, he's a better jump shooter than LeBron, but because he won't trust anyone else to take the shot and often jacks up bad looks, whereas LeBron has proven that he will pass up the horribly contested shot if it means an open shot for Mo Williams or one of the other Cavs shooters. He actually got criticized for passing to an open Delonte West for the final shot in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals because Delonte missed his open three. A lot of people thought LeBron should have tried to do it all himself.

My list would be too long so I'll just list my top 3

Michael Jordan (The Greates Basketball player to date. Ask anyone.)

Cuantemo Blanco (Mexican football player)
[size=10]soccer[/h]

Deion Sanders (American Football)

Baseball: Roy Halladay, best pitcher in baseball right now without a doubt, Anyone that watches him regularly would agree with me. He can get strikes or ground balls when he really needs them. Rarely walks people and his sinker is nasty as hell and beauty to witness. He also he plays for my home team so he gets bonus points for that.

Basketball: Michael Jordan, without a doubt the best b-ball player of all time. He's was the reason why I even watch the sport in the first place.

That's it for me. I don't really have any favorite athletes in other sports.

Boxing: Manny Pacquiao
Basketball: Michael Jordan
Soccer: Ronaldinho

Those are the athletes that stand out for me. I watch other sports on ESPN too but I don't much take names ^_^

Nah, i disagree.
If you don't call that clutch i don't know what is.

it's zinedine zidane for soccer, and chris john for boxing, that's just like 2 sports that i really watch..

That is not clutch, that is Lebron doing work.

Clutch is being a finisher, to be able to make your own shot, to produce offense when you team needs it, to be able to get your team into a rhythm. That is what a clutch player is. Kobe is the best at it in defiantly

Watch that game. He finished the game(thus the term "finisher") with 29 of 30 last points of his team(he made most of the shots himself), produce offense when his team needs it(it was a CLOSE match, and his team needs him to get them to 3-2 series advantage obviously). That match was the best example of his clutchness, but he also had MANY clutch moments this year.

He did that with a shaky jumper. Imagine if he ever perfected his jumper.

And about being able to get your team into rhythm, see what happens to Cavs if Lebron is benched. Their rhythm is as bad as a 90-year old breakdancer.

Lebron is a clutch player. Like it or not you have to admit it. He is up there now, along with Kobe.

But admittedly every clutch players have their off moment. Lebron's clutch muscle is not working vs.Orlando this year. Kobe had it too. Remember 2008 Finals vs.Celtics? I wonder where's Kobe's clutch in that entire series.

Now post your favorite athlete.

Look at the numbers I posted from 82games.com above. If clutch is defined as causing your team to win games that are close with little time left, then LeBron was better at that than anyone this past year. People have these ideas in their heads about players, and yes, Kobe is a great player to have at the end of games, but if you watch the games and look at the stats, saying Kobe is the best clutch player in basketball right now simply doesn't cut it. Kobe probably is more "clutch" if you only include very last second jump shots(I haven't looked into it, but Kobe is generally better at long contested jump shots), rather than the ends of close games, as 82games does for their clutch stats. But simply being better at making the last second jump shot is substantially less valuable than being able to help your team win over a more extended period of time, and at this point, LeBron is clearly better at that, no matter whether you look at the beginning, middle, or end of games, regardless of the pressure and whether the games are close.

I don't know what to say about your comment that LeBron can't create his own shot and doesn't create offense for his team except that you need to watch the Cavs play more closely. LeBron can create his own shot(as can every elite NBA player to some degree), but he also is a great passer. Watch those easy layups he creates for Varejao by sneaking a pass to the low post on Varejao's cuts. Varejao is a great defender with pretty much no offensive ability to speak of, yet he still manages 8ppg on the Cavs, mostly because LeBron sets him up. LeBron also drives and kicks to Mo and Delonte for open threes. LeBron averaged 7.2 assists a game this past year, which is quite high for a non-point guard and especially impressive considering he also managed to put up 28ppg, showing that he isn't just looking to rack up the assists by passing.

Steve Young. I'm a Niners fan, but you gotta love this.


Hockey, I love Patrick Marleau of the Sharks. Just grew up with him. He's the Captain.

Baseball, you gotta love Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. Just filthy filthy stuff. I always loved JT Snow. Then there's always Pablo Sandoval. Just gotta love the whole team. Marichel, Mays, McCovey. Love 'em all.

For Basketball... Wilt Chamberlain. Lol. But, I do like John Stockton for the Jazz. He really deserved a championship. If only Jordan wasn't there.... Haha. I love Nash.
My favorite current player would have to be Andris Biedrins. He plays with energy. Oh... Gotta love Turiaf too. Great teammate.

I stress "to be able to get your team into a rhythm" and to be able to phasilitate and lead your team through your play, actions and words. TO eb able to motivate your team. That is something Lebron failed to do this playoff season. Clutch is not defined by just the players actions but how his actions impact his team. Experience also plays a big factor in how clutch a player is.

Now about the Celtics finals series, The Lakers and Kobe played great, its just the Celtics were the better team.

Fav players:

NBA: Kobe/Lebron/Wade
NFL: Peyton Manning/Adrian Peterson
Soccer: Steven Gerrard
MLB: Alebert Pujols (great player on a bad team >.>)

Muhammad Ali, MJ 23, Magic Johnson, Barry Sanders.

I've moved the Kobe vs. LeBron debate to its own thread. I put a reply there.

The Official Kobe vs. LeBron Thread

USAIN BOLT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MUHAMMAD ALI...RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE IS THE BEST BOXING MATCH I'VE EVER WATCHED...8)


ALI BOMA YE!!!

Manny Pacquiao
Started fighting at 106 lbs. Nearly a decade later, finds himself fighting at 145 lbs for a potential 7th world title, the most in boxing history.