Greatest Sportsperson of All Time

This is it, time to put your balls on the block and declare who you think is the greatest sportsperson of all time.

I know, i know a lot of things could come into it and its hard to compare achievements across sports and generations but dont b a pussy and make a decision.

Mine is Michael Jordan - For the sheer dominance of his sport and the effect he had on popular culture the world over, not just in America or just in basketball. Off the hardwood he is a great person too, the only minus I see is that he is a complete degenerate gambler lol but hey who am I to judge him for that.

Greatest sportsman of all time for me.

Coming close to ousting him I would have to say was Tiger Woods, without a doubt the greatest golfer we have ever seen, in 20 years I think he would have won it from Jordan in my eyes but not yet, still got a long career ahead of him.

Michael Schumacher

I hate him, but I think it's a fair decision after winning 7 world championships... not an easy job even if you're driving a Ferrari.

I agree with Jono, but I think Woods is close to overtaking Jordan. Jordan always had the Bulls to support him and just as much credit should go to Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, and even Steve Kerr. He was part of a dynasty that simply dominated the sport although he was the heart and soul of the team. I'd still have Jordan at #1, with Woods a close 2nd, and Ali in third. Federer would've been up there especially if he can win the French open, but the Aussie Open loss has made me think otherwise.

I'm swaying a little toward Muhammad Ali. Many say that there were better fighters around than him during his time, yet not many come close to having such a dominant influence on a sport in quite the same way as Ali. He commanded such respect and had such confidence and qoutes of his are srtill repeated today.

Did wonders for the sport of boxing.

Yeah Id agree with Muhammad Ali, not just for what he did in the ring but for how influential he was outside it, campaigning for black rights, protesting on Vietnam etc. Obviously as well as that he was one of the best fighters of all time

Pele. For the sheer dominance of his sport and the football academys he has started up.

Come on? He should get the biggest hype award, nothing more. Are you going to nominate Beckham next?

If a boxer was in the running, and actually I think he is close to the top five, it has to be Joe Louis.

One of the greatest heavyweights OF ALL TIME, and one of the greatest champions and ambassadors for sport too. He united a deeply racist America (he was black) in their support for him and did it all with great modesty and humility. A true champion, one of the greatest inside and outside the ring. And the challenges he faced, and the way he overcame them not only changed boxing and sport for black athletes but changed America and beyond too.

Garrincha - gave hope for cripples everywhere

What about Johan cruijff...he started up the cruijff foundation.

Im just adding to why i feel Pele is the best of the best and of course all his world cup medals

1) Muhammed Ali ........ not the greatest boxer ever , but when you factor in his stand over Vietnam , his support of the Black Rights movement , the Olympic flame , etc etc ; I think he is the outstanding sportsperson of all time .

2) Don Bradman......... statistically he is about 60% better than any other batsman in history . Jordan wasn't 60% better than Bird , Magic or whoever . Babe Ruth wasn't 60% better than Williams or Cobb . Woods isn't 60% better than Nicklaus .

3) Pele ......... just because he was the best player in the world's best and most popular sport .

But he didn't make waves for the sport like Jordan, Ruth, or Woods did. These three pretty much put their respective sports on the map. Although I wouldn't put Ruth as an 'all-time great'... Probably in the top 10.

I fully accept that Ali wasn't the best boxer , so if we're judging this on just sporting achievement then , no to Ali .

It's difficult to judge Jordan's impact because here in the UK , basketball is such a minor sport , that Jordan would not figure in the average Brits . Only big sports fans and kids who buy trainers would have heard of him .

The same could be said of Ruth ; Gretzky ; Montana ; Cobb ; Lemieux ; Orr etc etc . I think it's difficult for Americans/Canadians to appreciate how unknown their sports stars are in the rest of the world ; just as it's hard for the rest of the world to appreciate how big American Football / Baseball and Ice Hockey are in North America .

Woods could be one day , but he needs to establish himself as the greatest in his own sport first ; and until he actually overtakes Nicklaus' majors total , that is in doubt .

Similarly Federer needs to pass Sampras' record before he can be considered .

Statistically , Bradman is the most dominant sportsman ever , but there are only 10 Test playing countries in the world , and when he was playing , even less than that .

How about Martina Navratilova . Dominant in a sport played all over the world . And still winning into her 40's .

I wasn't referring to Ali, and I'd pick him as one of the all time greats for everything he's done for the sport both in and out of the ring.

I'm judging my picks based on just how they've shattered the sports' status quo and redefining the sport and just the general impact they've had on people. Jordan and Ali have done that. Perhaps Bradman has done that for his sport, although I've never heard of him .. Probably because of geography. But when it comes to Jordan, he was the face of basketball as well as Ali for boxing. I wouldn't even care about golf if it wasn't for Tiger Woods. I didn't live in the US my whole life, in face I've only moved here less than three years ago but the three athletes I mentioned were household names even in the Philippines so I have to take into account that they do have global appeal. Pele would also be another one I'd have up there floating with the three.. Great shout with Martina Navratilova, though. She's probably the greatest female athlete ever and is definitely up there with Jordan, Ali, Woods and Pele.

Totally agree with Floody

Tiger Woods or Maradonna

Is this a private conversation between mrtz and I or is anyone else going to join in ?

Okay , so it was Bradman you were querying .

Fair enough on recognition , maybe in a non cricketing nation he is unknown , so the recognition thing is against him . But in terms of sporting achievement , his career Test batting average is 99.94 , the guy in 2nd place averages 60.97 ; that's about 66% better .

I believe Ty Cobb holds the baseball career batting average at .366 , it would be like someone else batting at .540 !!!!

I think Ali was important politically , and if in the next few years a lot of black golfers emerge then maybe Woods can claim that also . My problem with Woods is that until he actually gets more Majors than Nicklaus , he's not the best golfer ever .

Jordan was dominant in his sport , and due to his Nike contract had a global recognition . I'm not a basketball fan , so you'd have to tell me how great a player he was compared to Bird and Magic .

Whoops , whilst I was writing others did post

Fair enough on Bradman. I'll look him up for sure.

As for Jordan, he was named the NBA's greatest player by the organization itself. But let's compare him to a couple of other greats. You said Bird and Magic, so we'll do that, and I'll throw in Wilt Chamberlain.

Chamberlain - 31,419 career points in 14 NBA seasons. 2-time NBA Champion, 4-time MVP, 1 finals MVP.

Bird - 21,791 career points, in 13 NBA seasons. 3-time NBA Champion, 3-time MVP, 2 finals MVP.

Magic - 17,707 career points in 13 NBA seasons. 5-time NBA Champion, 3-time MVP, 3-time finals MVP.

Jordan - 32,292 career points in 15 NBA seasons. 6-time NBA Champion, 5-time MVP, 6-time finals MVP.

So Jordan pretty much leads all these categories from these four. Chamberlain was biologically superior to the players in his era and could easily score 50 a game as he was a towering 7'1 (in the 60s). Bird and Magic are 6'9. Jordan is 6'6. Jordan had a lot more competition than Chamberlain as he played in the late 80's and 90's when players were a lot bigger and stronger, and Jordan wasn't one of the big boys.

Bird and Magic exchanged NBA glory in the 80's while Jordan pretty much dominated the 90's. The big difference is that Bird had Kevin McHale and Bill Russell who would average 20 points along with him. Magic Johnson had Kareem-Abdul Jabbar who is the NBA's all-time scoring leader. You can see that as Bird won the MVP in 2 of the 3 finals he won and Magic winning 3 of the 5. Jordan won the MVP in 6 of the 6 and he was pretty much the biggest reason for the Bulls' success. Granted he had a great coach and Scottie Pippen, you could see how important he was when he spent time off from the game for 2 seasons after he won three consecutive titles. In the 2 seasons he was gone, the Bulls failed to make the finals. When he came back, they won three more in succession until he retired once again.

So Jordan appears to be substantially better than the rest .

That's a good starting point for greatness . I like the fact that when he went off to play baseball the Bulls didn't even make the play-offs .

C'mon you Aussie posters , I need support for Bradman .

Are we all agreed on Ali as a candidate for the greatest sportsman ever ?

I'll concede Jordan has to be a candidate , and I'll wait for you to google Bradman .

Any other candidates ; Navratilova ; Pele ; Jim Thorpe ; Laver/Sampras/Federer ; ETC ETC