The wide world of sports has seen some of the greatest, most dominant, most beloved, and most amazing athletes enter their respective leagues over the past two decades but defining who the best of the best athlete of 2023 is a nearly impossible task. With gold medalists, MVPs, champions, superstars, and G.O.A.T.s all in their prime, sports has never seen a greater crop of athletes than it has right now.
NBA superstars like Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, and LeBron James continue to dominate their leagues and give showstopping highlights each and every night. At the same time, the next generation of legendary quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen have redefined their position and changed the game of football forever.
MLB is slowly beginning to get back into global popularity with Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Aaron Judge showing up and showing out every day. Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the biggest superstars of the biggest sport in the world, Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe who have surpassed superstar status and have reached another all-time level
5. Novak Djokovic
Djokovic began his professional career in 2003. At age 20, he disrupted Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s streak of 11 consecutive Grand Slam tournament victories by winning the 2008 Australian Open. At age 24, Djokovic ascended to No. 1 for the first time, winning three majors and five Masters titles in 2011. In 2015, Djokovic reached 15 consecutive finals and won a season-record 10 Big Titles.
His dominant run extended through to the 2016 French Open, where he completed a non-calendar year Grand Slam and his first career Grand Slam, becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles simultaneously and setting a ranking points record (16,950).
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Born and raised in Athens to Nigerian parents, Antetokounmpo began playing basketball for the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens. In 2011, he began playing for the club’s senior team before entering the 2013 NBA draft, where he was selected 15th overall by the Bucks. In 2016–17 he led the Bucks in all five major statistical categories and became the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season in the top 20 in all five statistics of total points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
He received the Most Improved Player award in 2017. Antetokounmpo has received seven All-Star selections, including being selected as an All-Star captain in 2019, 2020 and 2023 as he led the Eastern Conference in voting in these three years.
3. Shohei Ohtani
Considered early on as an elite two-way player, Ohtani was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft. He played in NPB for the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 as a pitcher and an outfielder, and won the 2016 Japan Series with them. The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season, and he signed with the Angels, soon winning the 2018 American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award.
Following an injury-plagued 2019 and 2020, Ohtani would go on to have a 2021 season widely considered to be historic, as he became the first in the history of MLB with 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts and 10+ pitching appearances as a pitcher in the same season while also holding at least a share of the major league lead in home runs in fourteen starts.
2. Connor McDavid
McDavid spent his childhood playing ice hockey against older children. Coached by his father, McDavid won four Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships with the York Simcoe Express, but he left the team in 2011 to join the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL).
There, McDavid was named the GTHL Player of the Year and the winner of the Tim Adams Memorial Trophy. He was granted exceptional player status in 2012 by Hockey Canada, which allowed him to begin playing junior ice hockey at the age of 15.
1. Lionel Messi
Messi relocated to Spain from Argentina aged 13 to join Barcelona, for whom he made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won his first Ballon d’Or.
Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning four consecutive Ballons d’Or, making him the first player to win the award four times. During the 2011–12 season, he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer.
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