The greatest living ...

A question I asked on the Hank Aaron thread got me thinking about who the greatest living person is in various areas. Feel free to debate and add categories.

Baseball player: Willie Mays

Football player: Jim Brown

Basketball player (male): Michael Jordan

Basketball player (female): Cheryl Miller

Hockey player: Wayne Gretzky

Soccer player (male): Lionel Messi

Soccer player (female): Mia Hamm

Golfer (male): Jack Nicklaus

Golfer (female): Annika Sorenstam

Tennis (male): Roger Federer

Tennis (female): Martina Navratilova

Race car driver: AJ Foyt

Olympic Athlete (male): Carl Lewis

Olympic athlete (female): Peggy Fleming

Coach: Bill Belichick

Rock performer (male): Paul McCartney

Rock performer (female ): Linda Ronstadt

Actor: Jack Nicholson

Actress: Meryl Streep

Comedian: Eddie Murphy

 

Usain Bolt gets a nod from me. And I could argue Jerry Rice for football, over a beer or three.

 

I'd still take Kareem in basketball. Three NCAA championships. Lost one college game. Changed the game so much they outlawed the dunk. All-time leading scorer with 38,387 points. League-record six MVP awards. Six NBA titles. Two Finals MVP awards, 15 NBA First or Second Teams, a record 19 NBA All-Star appearances.

Women's hoops, I might take Nancy Lieberman.

Race car, Jimmy Clark.

Olympic male, Michael Phelps.

 

When I was thinking about my list I was debating between Kareem and Bill Russell but went with MJ when I actually posted.

 

Jim Clark died during a F2 race in Hockenheim, Germany in 1968.

 

The greatest breakdancer ever, Adolfo Gutierrez "Shabba Doo" Quinones, died of what is believed to be COVID in late December.

 

Baseball: Willie Mays
Basketball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Hockey: Wayne Gretzky
Football: Jerry Rice
Auto Racing: Lewis Hamilton
Soccer: Probably Leo Messi (a lot of people ahead of him just died in the last few years)

Comedian: Louis CK (Tough one. Generally a short shelf life -- to me, Eddie's stuff doesn't hold up at all)

 

Jackie Joyner Kersee would like a word or two with Peggy Fleming. For that matter so would Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky. Bonnie Blair. Lots of options better than Peggy.

 

Baseball player: Willie Mays

Football player: Aaron Rodgers

College Football player: Barry Sanders

Basketball player (male): Michael Jordan

Basketball player (female): Cheryl Miller

Hockey player: Wayne Gretzky

Soccer player (male): Pele

Soccer player (female): Mia Hamm

Golfer (male): Tiger Woods

Golfer (female): Annika Sorenstam

Tennis (male): Roger Federer

Tennis (female): Steffi Graf

Race car driver: Jimmie Johnson

Olympic Athlete (male): Usain Bolt

Olympic athlete (female): Simone Biles

Boxer: Sugar Ray Leonard

Coach: Phil Jackson

Rock performer (male): Very much a personal taste thing, but probably McCartney.

Rock performer (female ): Chrissie Hynde

Actor: Daniel Day Lewis

Actress: Cate Blanchett

Comedian: Larry David

President: Carter

Talk Show Host: Letterman

News Anchor: Rather

Sports anchor: Bob Ley

 

If it’s pure stand up it might be Louis. Or Eddie.

But I don’t know what Larry David is if not a comedian. And he changed comedy.

 

Male soccer player is Pele. I thought he had died, but I was wrong

 

Yeah, I was strictly thinking of standup, but you're right. Larry David is certainly in the discussion. Albert Brooks, too, for me.

Funny - me too.

Hard for me to judge on Pele. He was pretty old by the time I could see him play and soccer's a tough one to judge without actually watching them in action. (Greatest I ever saw was Johan Cruyff but he died a few years ago.)