Biggest One-Game Star-Making Performances in Sports
Carli Lloyd was a great soccer player before the Women's World Cup Final, but her historic performance on the big stage elevated her into immortality.
The following are 14 individual performances that took athletes from good to great, from rising stars to bona fide superstars. These were not one-hit wonders or incredible games from players already known as legends.
No, these were iconic breakout performances—MJ's 63 points against the Boston Celtics, Pele's 1958 World Cup Final and of course, Carli Lloyd, our newest American hero.
Honorable Mention: T.J. Oshie vs. Russia
1 of 15
T.J. Oshie gets an honorable mention because he doesn't quite fall into the ranks of NHL superstars. He is, however, a penalty shot superstar. That's the likely reason Oshie made the 2014 U.S. Olympic hockey team, and it proved to be a smart roster move.
The Americans faced Russia in a group-play matchup, a game that ended in a shootout. Oshie made four of six penalty shots, and the U.S. won, 3-2.
According to Kevin Allen of USA Today, U.S. defenseman Ryan McDonagh said, "I've never seen anything quite like that. I never knew he had that in his repertoire, all of those moves."
Cardale Jones, Big Ten Championship, 2014
2 of 15
Cardale Jones started the 2014 college football season at third on the Ohio State quarterback depth chart. However, injuries plagued the Buckeyes at the position, and Jones got the start in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Understandably, there was some doubt—or perhaps uncertainty is a better word—regarding his performance expectations. Jones quickly put that to bed. He threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 59-0 shellacking of Wisconsin and was named the game's MVP.
Jones went on to lead the Buckeyes to victories in the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff National Championship. He opted to forego the NFL draft, so we have yet to see what else this young star has to offer.
Steph Curry Drops 54 on Knicks
3 of 15
Steph Curry is an NBA MVP and a Finals champion. In February 2013, however, he was still a rising star. His shooting skills were obvious, but it wasn't until a 54-point performance against the New York Knicks that his true potential became clear.
Curry's 54 points (in a losing effort) came on an 18-for-28 shooting night. He went 7-7 from the free-throw line and made 11 three-pointers, a Golden State Warriors franchise record. Curry joined the ranks of NBA shooting legends that night, and he has stayed there since.
Roger Federer, Wimbledon, 2001
4 of 15
In 2001, Roger Federer was a young up-and-comer on the tennis scene, yet to win his first Grand Slam. Pete Sampras was a seven-time Wimbledon champion who had not lost there in 31 matches.
The two met in Wimbledon's fourth round, and Federer won in five sets. The young Swiss didn't win the tournament that year, but he put himself on the map by beating one of the game's greats.
He did win at Wimbledon two years later, notching his first of 17 (and counting) Grand Slam victories. That's more, by the way, than Sampras' career total of 14.
Johnny Manziel at Alabama, 2012
5 of 15
We have yet to see what type of NFL career Johnny Manziel will have, but one game in Tuscaloosa solidified his lore as a superstar college quarterback.
In 2012, Manziel was a redshirt freshman having a good year for Texas A&M. In November, he took the Aggies to Alabama and beat the No. 1 team, 29-24. Manziel threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns, and he dazzled with his running and playmaking abilities, tacking on 92 rush yards to boot.
Zac Jackson of Fox Sports Ohio reported Manziel later looked back on that game and said:
"…it's the day that changed my life forever. I know going into that game what my level of stardom was -- very, very small, still gaining a little bit of national attention. And then after that game, coming out of the locker room to the buses was really one of the craziest experiences that I've ever really dealt with , and from then on, we finished out the year on a winning streak and got a chance to go to the Cotton Bowl and win that game as well.
"
Manziel went on to win the Heisman Trophy that year—the first freshman to do so—and eventually become a first-round NFL draft pick.
Ken Dryden, Stanley Cup Final Game 7, 1971
6 of 15
Ken Dryden played eight years in the NHL—all with Montreal—and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
The goaltender played in just six regular-season games in the 1970-71 season, his rookie year. However, he got the start in goal for the playoffs. Dryden led the Canadiens to series victories against the Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars and Chicago Blackhawks to eventually take home the Stanley Cup.
Dryden compiled a 12-8 postseason record and a 3.0 goals-against average and was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy. Most notably, his performance in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final was particularly memorable. Dryden held the line with some incredible saves in the third period to secure a thrilling 3-2 win, according to Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune.
Shoutout to Patrick Roy, whose career had an eerily similar trajectory. The Montreal goaltender won the Conn Smythe his rookie season as well following a stellar postseason performance.
Jordan Spieth, Masters, 2015
7 of 15
Jordan Spieth was on the golf radar as an emerging talent before the Masters this year. After a crushing defeat in 2014, Spieth rebounded to become the second-youngest player to ever win the Masters. He did so in dominating fashion, going wire-to-wire and tying the scoring record with an 18-under.
Spieth followed up his Masters win with a victory at the U.S. Open, and his stock continues to rise. He's now No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Madison Bumgarner, World Series Game 7, 2014
8 of 15
Heading into the 2014 MLB playoffs, people knew Madison Bumgarner was a talented young pitcher. The San Francisco Giants lefty had just won 18 games, made the All-Star team and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting.
But it was his playoff performance—and one game in particular—that truly catapulted Bumgarner into stardom. He threw a record 52.2 postseason innings, striking out 45 and compiling a 1.03 ERA.
In the World Series, Bumgarner won Games 1 and 5. In the pivotal Game 7, he came into the game on two days rest to pitch five shutout innings of relief. He worked the longest save in World Series history and brought home the Giants' third title in five years.
Individually, Bumgarner was named the National League Championship Series MVP, the World Series MVP, and later, the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
Roger Clemens, 20 Strikeouts in 1986
9 of 15
Roger Clemens was 23 years old in 1986, playing in his third MLB season for the Boston Red Sox. The right-hander entered the season just 16-9 with a 3.88 ERA over his first two seasons.
It would prove to be a breakout year for the Rocket, and it all started with a record-setting 20-strikeout performance in April. Clemens fanned 20 Seattle Mariners, hitting the 20-K mark with one batter to spare.
Clemens went on to win 24 games that year, capturing both the Cy Young and MVP Awards at season's end. Incredibly, he accomplished the 20-strikeout feat again in 1996.
Wayne Gretzky, 5 Goals to Hit 50, 1981
10 of 15
Scoring 50 goals in 50 games is a rare achievement in the NHL. However, Wayne Gretzky only needed 39 games to score 50 goals in 1981, in just his fourth year in the league. Gretzky was already a young phenom, but that accomplishment, and how he achieved it, will live on in hockey lore.
The most incredible part about Gretzky's 50-in-50 is not its status as a still-standing record, but the fact he hit the 50-goal mark by scoring five goals in one game. Gretzky had 45 goals in Edmonton's first 38 games that season, but he only needed that 39th contest against Philadelphia to hit the coveted mark.
Michael Jordan Drops 63 on Celtics, 1986
11 of 15
By 1986, Michael Jordan was already an NBA All-Star, but his historic playoff performance vs. the Boston Celtics was definitely a sign of many more immortal achievements to come.
In what some have called the greatest game ever played, the young Chicago Bulls guard tapped the Celtics for 63 points in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. The Bulls lost the game (and the series), but Jordan's point total set a playoff record that still stands today. And incredibly, he did it against a team with five future Hall of Famers.
According to NBA.com, Larry Bird famously said, "I didn't think anyone was capable of doing what Michael has done to us. He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it's just God disguised as Michael Jordan."
Tiger Woods, Masters, 1997
12 of 15
If Jordan Spieth's 2015 Masters was impressive, then Tiger Woods' 1997 tournament was downright incredible.
In 1997, Woods had notched a couple of wins and was certainly one of golf's rising stars. However, the Masters was his coming-out party.
At just 21 years old, Woods became the youngest Masters winner in history and set the scoring record at 18-under. Not only that, but the second-place finisher came in 12 strokes behind Woods—12! Absurd.
Magic Johnson, NBA Finals Game 6, 1980
13 of 15
Magic Johnson is now known as one of, if not the, best point guards in NBA history. In 1980, he was a rookie on a Los Angeles Lakers team whose centerpiece was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Abdul-Jabbar suffered an injury with the Lakers up 3-2 in the Finals that year. Johnson got the start at center in what would become his legendary breakout game. Johnson dominated, scoring 42 points, recording 15 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Lakers to a deciding victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Johnson took home the Finals MVP, and the rest was history.
Carli Lloyd, World Cup Final, 2015
14 of 15
Prior to the 2015 Women's World Cup, Carli Lloyd was already a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the WNT's leading goalscorer in terms of a player who is exclusively a midfielder.
Needless to say, the World Cup Final launched her into a different stratosphere. Lloyd scored the fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, with three goals in the first 16 minutes. In fact, Lloyd is the only woman to score a World Cup Final hat-trick, and only one man has ever done it—Geoff Hurst of England in 1966.
Lloyd's dominance led her team to its first World Cup victory since 1999 and earned her the tournament's Golden Ball.
Pele, World Cup Final, 1958
15 of 15
Brazilian soccer legend Pele, the greatest of all time, won the first of three career World Cup titles in 1958, at just 17 years old.
Pele became the youngest person to score a goal in World Cup history during the quarterfinals and exploded for a hat-trick in the second half of the semifinals.
In the final against Sweden, Pele scored two goals and solidified a level of greatness that would continue to grow over the next two decades. According to FIFA.com, Pele was carried off the field after the final and later said, "I felt like I was living in a dream."
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
