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.

By Blesson Daniel

Published on Jul 19, 2024 | 10:20 PM IST | 72.4K

Tom Brady [Credit-Getty Images]

In this Article

Fans angry about how Tom Brady ranked lower than Lebron James
Who made it to ESPN’s top 100 of 21st century list

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.”

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 Advertisement
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 Advertisement
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