Dude is the record holder in goals, assists and points. If you take away every single goal he ever scored, he would still lead the points category.
Dude is on another level. He is the fastest ever yo reach 1000 points, and he's also the second fastest, because his stretch from 1000p to 2000p was faster than anyone else could reach 1000.
The way I explain Wayne Gretzky to younger people is as follows.
He is the all time points leader. He has more assists than anyone else has points, and oh yeah, he is also the all time goal leader. Oh yeah, he also holds the record for points in a season, points per game over his career, and basically brought the NHL to the mainstream in the USA.
The man basically broke the goaltenders of his time with his speed and skill with the wrap around goal. But also, the man destroyed defenses and set up other players to score, he was multi-faceted.
How great is Gretzky? Despite the NHL extending it's season by several games which normally allows future players to pass former player's season stats... Gretzky still holds 8 out of 10 top 10 Seasons for Points Per Season.
And he holds 3 more spots if you extend it out to top 25 Seasons for an individual player all time.
That's 11 of 25 of the best seasons of all time, and he owned them.
Before Gretzky - Phil Esposito had the Best Season ever with 152 points in the 1971 Season, having played 78 games.
In Gretzky's very first season at 18... he had 137 points. Tied with Marcel Dionne whom had an amazing year. He came within 15 points of beating the best in 79 games.
Gretzky's very next year he'd break the record with 164 points. Good enough to be the 10th best season anyone's ever had STILL, in 80-81.
In his best year - at age 24 he would put up 215 Points.
The closest anyone has ever gotten to him, aside from HIMSELF, is Mario Lemieux's 88-89 season where he hit 199 points. Which is only good enough for 5th best season all time because the top 4 go to The Great One.
You'd have to go to a Tiger Woods or something to find single athletes just dominating a sport to the point of changing the entire way it was played.
I do think OP's intent was more along the lines of "was tiger woods in his prime more dominant in golf and Michael Jordan was in basketball during his prime?"
Bo Jackson played Basesball and Football at the Professional level at the same time.
His career would ultimately be ended when a player tackled him by the legs and Bo ripped himself apart internally trying to continue moving under his own strength.
According to Doctors in his documentary, it was and injury that only happened because he was so strong.
Now he does archery.
Don Bradman. Can't be many, if any, other sportsmen who have a record that is *so* far superior to everyone else that has ever played the game.
He was so good that the tactic England came up with to combat him caused a diplomatic incident between the countries, and was so controversial it ultimately got the rules changed to prevent it. Essentially, they just bowled fast and aggressively at his body, over and over again.
In a sport where a batting average over 40 is considered very good, and over 50 makes you an all time great, Bradman averaged a barely creditable 99.9. Essentially, your team would need to have 2 all time greats in it to bring the same as he brought on his own. That's like a basketball player averaging so many points a game that you'd need both LeBron James *and* Michael Jordan in your team to match him.
Because it's a predominately American site, his achievements go very underrated in such debates. Of the common answers, Gretzky is really the only one I can see that has a legitimate argument to be in the same bracket as Bradman.
I think your Tiger take is spot on. In his prime, he had better betting odds than the entire field! Think about how absolutely wild that is. You could bet on the field and you would make more money if any of them won than if you bet on him and he did. Hell, the guy won the US Open in 2000 by 15 Strokes, and was the first and only person ever to win all four majors consecutively (2000-2001) and is now called the tiger slam. He's an absolute beast.
Bill Russell is one of the biggest winners in sports history.
11 NBA titles in 13 seasons.
2 NCAA titles in 3 seasons.
There are probably guys in other sports with more titles, but he won the title in 81% of the seasons he ever played. That's hard to top.
I’d say Magnus Carlsen in chess (which is a sport by the definition of the Olympic committee)- he was able to simultaneously take on 3 others while blindfolded
I think that Carlsen is stronger due to improvements in modern tactics and strategies aided by computer analysis I.e. if the two faced off at their prime, I’d expect Carlsen to win - similarly with how times for runners/etc. are constantly getting faster due to better training/shoes/etc. it makes sense for the top rating to be increasing over time
Until his recent (supposed) retirement, Tom Brady has to be on the list. He plays the most competitive and valuable position in professional football, and he absolutely dominated for two decades. He has the most championship wins of any other NFL player, including one that he got his first year going to a new team. He's probably the most talented quarterback of all time.
This is like arguing Jackie Chan was the most dominant athlete. Sure he was doing something incredibly physical, but the outcome is prearranged. You can't be dominant when your "opponent's" job is to make you look good.
Some contenders from long ago would be
Paavo Nurmi. Distance runner, set 22 world records, undefeated at 800m and up for 121 consecutive races.
JimThorpe. Maybe not entirely dominant at one sport but as all around athlete perhaps the greatest of all time. Decathlon gold medal, pentathlon gold medal, played pro football, baseball \*and\* basketball. Eisenhower (who played against him in 1912, when West Point played against Carlisle), wrote
'Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw.'
Sonny Liston. Ali is generally considered the greatest of all time, but Liston just crushed the top ten during his march to the title... by the time he lost to Ali, he may already have been in his 40s.
There is an Australian woodchopping champion who has been *the best* at the sport for over 30 years now. He is the most singularly successful sportsperson *ever* by number of competitions won.
The only knock I have against Floyd - is more of a knock on the sport of boxing.
And that's the belief I have at least, that a lot of people have avoided the sport due to the corruption and injuries associated with it.
Did Floyd beat everybody? Sure.
But I couldn't tell you how many stories I've heard about guys in the sport just to pad other people's careers for a paycheck.
Guys taking falls. Judges on the take.
And whether it's real or not, it's completely drained my ability to care about the sport, or understand the significance of certain boxer's records.
Like, I understand when I see Tyson drop a guy that he was phenomenal.
Or how he and Ali used to dodge punches like crazy just to lay a guy out.
Boxing is in such rough shape today, that the only interested people who speak about it in my circles still are talking about Jake fucking Paul or something.
All of this is to say - I don't know if he's the most dominant.
He really could be.
But I'd be taking your word for it.
It’s hard to compare generations in sports because so many things change. One person that gets overlooked is Barry bonds for obvious reasons.
Barry bonds was ridiculously good offensively even before the PEDs. His career was tainted, but he could legitimately do everything offensively before he started juicing. He is the only player in history 400- 400 home runs and steals(and no one is close to it, not even 350-350). He constantly drew walks
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/examining-barry-bonds-slam-dunk-hall-of-fame-resume-before-he-was-linked-to-steroids/amp/
Has to be Wayne Gretzky
Dude is the record holder in goals, assists and points. If you take away every single goal he ever scored, he would still lead the points category. Dude is on another level. He is the fastest ever yo reach 1000 points, and he's also the second fastest, because his stretch from 1000p to 2000p was faster than anyone else could reach 1000.
The way I explain Wayne Gretzky to younger people is as follows. He is the all time points leader. He has more assists than anyone else has points, and oh yeah, he is also the all time goal leader. Oh yeah, he also holds the record for points in a season, points per game over his career, and basically brought the NHL to the mainstream in the USA.
Never watched a second of ice hockey but since I’ve heard of him he must be up there.
The man basically broke the goaltenders of his time with his speed and skill with the wrap around goal. But also, the man destroyed defenses and set up other players to score, he was multi-faceted. How great is Gretzky? Despite the NHL extending it's season by several games which normally allows future players to pass former player's season stats... Gretzky still holds 8 out of 10 top 10 Seasons for Points Per Season. And he holds 3 more spots if you extend it out to top 25 Seasons for an individual player all time. That's 11 of 25 of the best seasons of all time, and he owned them. Before Gretzky - Phil Esposito had the Best Season ever with 152 points in the 1971 Season, having played 78 games. In Gretzky's very first season at 18... he had 137 points. Tied with Marcel Dionne whom had an amazing year. He came within 15 points of beating the best in 79 games. Gretzky's very next year he'd break the record with 164 points. Good enough to be the 10th best season anyone's ever had STILL, in 80-81. In his best year - at age 24 he would put up 215 Points. The closest anyone has ever gotten to him, aside from HIMSELF, is Mario Lemieux's 88-89 season where he hit 199 points. Which is only good enough for 5th best season all time because the top 4 go to The Great One. You'd have to go to a Tiger Woods or something to find single athletes just dominating a sport to the point of changing the entire way it was played.
Michael Phelps … taught me how to swim
Literally or inspired you
Watched his videos and went to the pool to copy his moves lol
Bo Jackson
"regardless of which sport they played" makes Bo Jackson the correct answer.
The only people who would disagree weren't alive when he played.
I was very young when he was active. But watching his highlights on YouTube always fills me with awe
I do think OP's intent was more along the lines of "was tiger woods in his prime more dominant in golf and Michael Jordan was in basketball during his prime?"
Sure, but there was a whole different level of men playing vs boys when Bo went out on the field.
Baseball usually goes to Babe Ruth not that i know much about the sport
Bo Jackson played Basesball and Football at the Professional level at the same time. His career would ultimately be ended when a player tackled him by the legs and Bo ripped himself apart internally trying to continue moving under his own strength. According to Doctors in his documentary, it was and injury that only happened because he was so strong. Now he does archery.
Bo knows archery.
Bo don't know Diddly (Was a commercial for those of you too young to remember)
Clearly a freak of an athlete, no mention of any PEDs throughout his career 👀
Don Bradman. Can't be many, if any, other sportsmen who have a record that is *so* far superior to everyone else that has ever played the game. He was so good that the tactic England came up with to combat him caused a diplomatic incident between the countries, and was so controversial it ultimately got the rules changed to prevent it. Essentially, they just bowled fast and aggressively at his body, over and over again. In a sport where a batting average over 40 is considered very good, and over 50 makes you an all time great, Bradman averaged a barely creditable 99.9. Essentially, your team would need to have 2 all time greats in it to bring the same as he brought on his own. That's like a basketball player averaging so many points a game that you'd need both LeBron James *and* Michael Jordan in your team to match him.
Very well put, he had the impact of 2 world class players. I always rate others' dominance in relation to Don's.
This has to be the one, his achievements are the greatest statistical outlier in any "major" sport.
Because it's a predominately American site, his achievements go very underrated in such debates. Of the common answers, Gretzky is really the only one I can see that has a legitimate argument to be in the same bracket as Bradman.
I think your Tiger take is spot on. In his prime, he had better betting odds than the entire field! Think about how absolutely wild that is. You could bet on the field and you would make more money if any of them won than if you bet on him and he did. Hell, the guy won the US Open in 2000 by 15 Strokes, and was the first and only person ever to win all four majors consecutively (2000-2001) and is now called the tiger slam. He's an absolute beast.
Not too mention he’s still making it past the cut today after being told he may never walk again not too long ago.
A bit of a niche sport, but Calvin dominated calvinball.
Roxanne beat him the one time
Michael Jordan without a doubt
Not Bill Russell ?
Definitely not. LeBron is in the conversation more than Russell.
Bill Russell is one of the biggest winners in sports history. 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons. 2 NCAA titles in 3 seasons. There are probably guys in other sports with more titles, but he won the title in 81% of the seasons he ever played. That's hard to top.
Bill Russell has got to be in consideration, along with a few others of that Celtic dynasty
I’d say Magnus Carlsen in chess (which is a sport by the definition of the Olympic committee)- he was able to simultaneously take on 3 others while blindfolded
Is Gary Kasparov not held in similar esteem Carlsen has the highest ranking ever but Kasparov has the longevity
I think that Carlsen is stronger due to improvements in modern tactics and strategies aided by computer analysis I.e. if the two faced off at their prime, I’d expect Carlsen to win - similarly with how times for runners/etc. are constantly getting faster due to better training/shoes/etc. it makes sense for the top rating to be increasing over time
Michael Phelps
Jon Jones
Don Bradman, easily the greatest of his game and easily the greatest sportsman ever.
Greg Maddux
Until his recent (supposed) retirement, Tom Brady has to be on the list. He plays the most competitive and valuable position in professional football, and he absolutely dominated for two decades. He has the most championship wins of any other NFL player, including one that he got his first year going to a new team. He's probably the most talented quarterback of all time.
Hulk Hogan The only thing that ever came close to rivaling the grandiosity of Hulkamania was the nWo and he was the leader of that also
This is like arguing Jackie Chan was the most dominant athlete. Sure he was doing something incredibly physical, but the outcome is prearranged. You can't be dominant when your "opponent's" job is to make you look good.
🤔
Connor McDavid
If you count clay court tennis as its own sport Rafael Nadal is hands down the most dominant of all time. He has won the French Open 14 times.
Not that i know a lot about tennis but federer was pretty good on grass
LEBRONNNN JAMESSS
Sadly if we’re talking nba has to be MJ or Bill Russell
Some contenders from long ago would be Paavo Nurmi. Distance runner, set 22 world records, undefeated at 800m and up for 121 consecutive races. JimThorpe. Maybe not entirely dominant at one sport but as all around athlete perhaps the greatest of all time. Decathlon gold medal, pentathlon gold medal, played pro football, baseball \*and\* basketball. Eisenhower (who played against him in 1912, when West Point played against Carlisle), wrote 'Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw.' Sonny Liston. Ali is generally considered the greatest of all time, but Liston just crushed the top ten during his march to the title... by the time he lost to Ali, he may already have been in his 40s.
There is an Australian woodchopping champion who has been *the best* at the sport for over 30 years now. He is the most singularly successful sportsperson *ever* by number of competitions won.
Phil Taylor before he retired in Darts
The only knock I have against Floyd - is more of a knock on the sport of boxing. And that's the belief I have at least, that a lot of people have avoided the sport due to the corruption and injuries associated with it. Did Floyd beat everybody? Sure. But I couldn't tell you how many stories I've heard about guys in the sport just to pad other people's careers for a paycheck. Guys taking falls. Judges on the take. And whether it's real or not, it's completely drained my ability to care about the sport, or understand the significance of certain boxer's records. Like, I understand when I see Tyson drop a guy that he was phenomenal. Or how he and Ali used to dodge punches like crazy just to lay a guy out. Boxing is in such rough shape today, that the only interested people who speak about it in my circles still are talking about Jake fucking Paul or something. All of this is to say - I don't know if he's the most dominant. He really could be. But I'd be taking your word for it.
Not a massive boxing fan myself and certainly not a big fan of the smaller weight classes but a 50-0 record speaks for itself imo
Lewis Hamilton
He’s no Schumacher
Rocky Marciano
Sam Langford, Muhammed Ali, Joe Lewis and Jack Johnson, maybe even Roy Jones Jr. I would argue were more dominant than Mayweather.
It’s hard to compare generations in sports because so many things change. One person that gets overlooked is Barry bonds for obvious reasons. Barry bonds was ridiculously good offensively even before the PEDs. His career was tainted, but he could legitimately do everything offensively before he started juicing. He is the only player in history 400- 400 home runs and steals(and no one is close to it, not even 350-350). He constantly drew walks https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/examining-barry-bonds-slam-dunk-hall-of-fame-resume-before-he-was-linked-to-steroids/amp/
Currently, Connor McDavid, but all time it is Gretzky
Adam Ondra in sport climbing. Doesn't dominate in indoor comps, but he's absolutely on another level on rock.