Tom Brady Ranked 5th Below LeBron James And Serena Williams In World’s Top 5 Athletes Since 2000, Leaves Fans Outraged

ESPN compiled a list of the best 100 athletes since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, New England Patriots star Tom Brady made the list, although he was ranked lower than LeBron James.

Published on Jul 19, 2024  |  10:20 PM IST |  72.4K
Tom Brady [Credit-Getty Images]
Tom Brady [Credit-Getty Images]

In an age where clickbait and engagement-farming are common phrases, social media users should be more aware of when they are being fooled. Nonetheless, we constantly accept the bait.

Wimbledon is finished, and the MLB and WNBA are on vacation for All-Star weeks, so it's a rather slack period on the sports calendar. As a result, it is the ideal time for ESPN to spark a social media conversation.

This week, ESPN officially published its list of the best 100 athletes of the twenty-first century, and fans are outraged at what type of list ESPN has compiled.
 


Fans angry about how Tom Brady ranked lower than Lebron James

Fans were outrageous as they brutally trolled ESPN. They had many questions to ask ESPN as they couldn’t believe that Lebron James was ranked higher than NFL legend Tom Brady. This only wasn’t the case. The fans were also in shock that how come Serena Williams made above stars like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafa Nadal.

One fan wrote, “Only thing I can see they could argue is Lebron’s Olympic accomplishments. Brady has his own records in his sport, more rings and mvps”
 


Another fan believes that Tom Brady is the most successful player of all time as he wrote, “No one has been as dominate for as long in any sport as Brady.”

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Another fan went full irate on ESPN writing, “Considering that ESPN is always unfair towards the Pats and bows down to LeBron, I can’t say I’m surprised, ESPN is a shell of what it used to be and barely respectable anymore”


Now it was tennis fans’ turn as one fan wrote, “Woke ESPN strikes again!!! No chance Serena better than Tb12”
 


Another fan just slammed the list and wrote, “No Tiger Woods, CR7, Federer or Bolt? Invalid list”


Who made it to ESPN’s top 100 of 21st century list

Rank

Athletes

1

Michael Phelps - Swimming

2

Serena Williams – Tennis

3

Lionel Messi – Soccer

4

LeBron James – Basketball

5

Tom Brady – Football

6

Roger Federer – Tennis

7

Simone Biles – Gymnastics

8

Tiger Woods – Golf

9

Usain Bolt – Track

10

Kobe Bryant – Basketball

11

Novak Djokovic – Tennis

12

Rafael Nadal – Tennis

13

Cristiano Ronaldo – Soccer

14

Stephen Curry – Basketball

15

Katie Ledecky – Swimming

16

Tim Duncan – Basketball

17

Shaquille O’Neal – Basketball

18

Patrick Mahomes – Football

19

Lewis Hamilton – Auto Racing

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20

Aaron Donald – Football

21

Diana Taurasi – Basketball

22

Sidney Crosby – hockey

23

Kevin Garnett – Basketball

24

Albert Pujols – Baseball

25

Floyd Mayweather – Boxing

26

Peyton Manning – Football

27

Randy Moss – Football

28

Nikola Jokic – Basketball

29

Michael Schumacher – Auto Racing

30

Mike Trout – Baseball

31

Clayton Kershaw – Baseball

32

Marta – Soccer

33

Miguel Cabrera – Baseball

34

Tamika Catchings – Basketball

35

Dwyane Wade – Basketball

36

Maya Moore – Basketball

37

Ichiro Suzuki – Baseball

38

Barry Bonds – Baseball

39

Kevin Durant – Basketball

40

Justin Verlander – Baseball

41

Dirk Nowitzki – Basketball

42

Giannis Antetokounmpo – Basketball

43

Alex Rodriguez – Baseball

44

Mikaela Shiffrin – Skiing

45

David Ortiz – Baseball

46

Max Scherzer – Baseball

47

Jimmie Johnson – Auto Racing

48

Thierry Henry – Soccer

49

Aitana Bonmati – Soccer

50

Zinedine Zidane – Soccer

51

Steve Nash – Basketball

52

Adrian Beltré – Baseball

53

Derek Jeter – Baseball

54

Alex Ovechkin – hockey

55

Luka Modric – Soccer

56

Alexia Putellas – Soccer

57

Calvin Johnson – Football

58

J.J. Watt – Football

59

Mariano Rivera – Baseball

60

Candace Parker – Basketball

61

Ray Lewis – Football

62

Shohei Ohtani – Baseball

63

Allyson Felix – Track

64

Mia Hamm – Soccer

65

Kylian Mbappé – Soccer

66

Jon Jones – MMA

67

James Harden – Basketball

68

Phil Mickelson – Golf

69

Jason Kidd – Basketball

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70

Andrés Iniesta – Soccer

71

Manny Pacquiao – Boxing

72

Shaun White – snowboarding

73

Mookie Betts – Baseball

74

Lisa Leslie – Basketball

75

Xavi Hernandez – Soccer

76

Georges St-Pierre – MMA

77

Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce – Track

78

Bernard Hopkins – Boxing

79

Bryce Harper – Baseball

80

Andy Murray – Tennis

81

Sheryl Swoopes – Basketball

82

Kohei Uchimura – Gymnastics

83

Chris Paul – Basketball

84

Lauren Jackson – Basketball

85

Kawhi Leonard – Basketball

86

Venus Williams – Tennis

87

Ronaldo Nazário – Soccer

88

Roy Halladay – Baseball

89

Annika Sorenstam – Golf

90

A’ja Wilson – Basketball

91

Aaron Rodgers – Football

92

Pedro Martinez – Baseball

93

Rory McIlroy – Golf

94

Ronaldinho – Soccer

95

Zlatan Ibrahimović – Soccer

96

Darrelle Revis – Football

97

Virat Kohli – Cricket

98

Connor McDavid – hockey

99

Ed Reed – Football

100

Charles Woodson – Football

Also Read: Stephen A Smith’s Mammoth ESPN Contract Slammed by Fox Sports' Veterans in Latest Rant

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A graduate in journalism. Blesson is an Indore-based writer who has a keen interest in exploring sports news,

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