10 Sports Stars Who Will Never Be Duplicated
There’s a certain breed of athlete that can never be duplicated. With the passing of Muhammad Ali, highlighting this point has never been more relevant.
Walking your way down the hallways of this slideshow serves as a reminder of greatness.
These are the criteria for this list:
- Being a transcendent figure. It’s not just about what each athlete did for his or her respective sport.
- It’s also equally—and to some extent more—about their capacity to shift culture.
Understanding which athletes fit the paradigm we’ve laid out, let’s go ahead and talk about 10 sports stars who will never be duplicated.
Honorable Mentions
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Although we listed 10 names in this slideshow, so many others deserve a nod. Here now are a handful of people who will also never be duplicated.
- Shaquille O'Neal, basketball
- Serena Williams, tennis
- Rocky Marciano, boxing
- Stone Cold Steve Austin, professional wrestling
- Peyton Manning, football
- Tom Brady, football
- Gordie Howe, hockey
- Jerry Rice, football
- Tiger Woods, golf
- Pele, soccer
Wayne Gretzky
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What Wayne Gretzky did for hockey goes way beyond his destruction of the record books. In a lot of ways—minus a booming stake in the sneaker business—The Great One reflected Michael Jordan.
He was statistically dominant beyond any realm of belief. Gretzky remains atop the NHL’s leaderboard for career goals, assists and points.
A feature posted on NHL.com reminisced over Gretzky’s endearing career. Besides all of the statistical panache he provided, this piece also showed how much The Great One loved the sport he played: “Beyond his genius and imagination, the Gretzkian game is also one of light and joy.”
Gretzky’s impact is lasting and unforgettable. He won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers before going off and helping revolutionize hockey in the United States. His trade to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 remains a seminal chapter in the sport’s history, as Tal Pinchevsky of NHL.com explained.
Stars in the NHL come and go. None will ever stack up to No. 99.
Jackie Robinson
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There will never be another Jackie Robinson. He shattered barriers, changed sports and dramatically shifted culture, putting tolerance and acceptance first.
Robinson’s legacy far outweighs his amazing on-field accomplishments—accomplishments that include leading the league in stolen bases twice, winning an MVP award in 1949 and compiling 1,518 hits in a 10-year career.
“Before Jackie, many people—many of them unknown—had worked hard to over turn America’s inequality but Jackie brought a fundamental change in baseball and accelerated a change in American apartheid that couldn’t be ignored, “ Lonnie G. Bunch III wrote in the Washington Post about the great Brooklyn Dodger.
Robinson’s legacy is one that simply cannot be duplicated.
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Magic Johnson
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Magic Johnson spent his playing days relying on innovation in order to change the game he loved. As a 6’9” point guard, it was almost shocking to watch Johnson move around using this lethal blend of speed, power and grace.
Before there was LeBron James—a massive on-court fixture who could control the game like a point guard—Johnson was the first of his kind.
Johnson’s career totals are a picturesque vision of well-rounded basketball. His 19.5 points, 11.2 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game live on among the all-time great stat lines.
Had Johnson been able to play longer—he retired in 1991 due to an HIV diagnosis—we could have seen more of his persona.
When Johnson stepped away from the sport, David Aldridge wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times about how he and Larry Bird had changed the game: “It was a joyous ride, this tour that Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took the world on for the last decade, a whirlwind that swept the NBA to unparalleled prosperity, popularity and permanence.”
We will never see another player like Johnson. He not only boosted the NBA's imagination but changed the way fans judged athletes.
Mike Tyson
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You can be an athlete marred with controversy and still never be replicated. The up-and-down, tumultuous career of Mike Tyson serves as a reminder of that.
Tyson’s rise to the top of boxing reinvigorated the heavyweight scene. He was dubbed The Baddest Man on the Planet while he climbed his way up the rankings.
November 22, 1986 serves as the day this heavy-handed knockout artist officially arrived. His TKO win over WBC champion Trevor Berbick pushed a 19-year-old Tyson into boxing glory.
Tyson would go on to unify the heavyweight titles before being stunned by James “Buster” Douglas in 1990.
His raw power and diabolical movement in the ring would be shattered by the time he spent in prison, his ear-biting incident with Evander Holyfield and the tumultuous ending to his career—Tyson lost three out of his last four bouts.
No matter how you may feel about him, Iron Mike Tyson is a name that will never be forgotten.
Michael Jordan
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The art of comparing NBA players to Michael Jordan will never stop.
It’s a simple formula that's been used over and over again. Start with a rotation of who is the best in the world at the time—Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. Then, take those names and construct a thesis revolving around stats, championship rings and overall impact.
Voila, you now have grounds for comparison.
The only issue is there can only be one Jordan. MJ’s accolades on the court are part of the reason why. Jordan left the sport with six NBA titles, five MVP awards and 10 scoring titles to his name.
Jordan's accomplishments aside, it’s what he did outside of the sport that also won't ever be duplicated. Michael Pina of FoxSports.com explained why: "Jordan also transcended how famous a professional athlete can be."
Between the Air Jordan line of shoes and his crossover marketing appeal, MJ’s fame soared to heights never seen before for a professional athlete.
His legacy is unmatched on and off the court. In 2015 alone, Nike paid Jordan $100 million for his ongoing sneaker efforts, per Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes.
Keep comparing people to Jordan all you want. We know there will never be another MJ.
Babe Ruth
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If baseball has a folk hero, it’s Babe Ruth—just ask kids who grew up watching The Sandlot.
Ruth was the sport’s first icon. Transitioning from a pitcher to the game’s best power hitter isn’t an everyday occurrence. His legacy of 714 home runs, a career slugging percentage of .690 and 2,214 RBI are all beautiful achievements.
But it was Ruth’s shift from Boston to New York that changed everything.
Long story short, it placed a “curse” on the prior franchise and vaulted the Yankees to championships and universal praise. The Red Sox's decision to sell Ruth to the Yankees in December of 1919 remains a memorable moment in sports history.
Ruth’s appeal is everlasting in pop culture and baseball. No one was or has been quite like The Sultan of Swat.
LeBron James
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Before the hate comes pouring in from all sides, you have to realize that LeBron James belongs here. He’s not Michael Jordan. He’s not Kobe Bryant. He’s LeBron James, and that’s perfectly fine.
James’ emergence from the high school ranks to the pros in 2003 is perhaps the greatest fulfillment of hype we’ve ever seen. Before he had even touched an NBA court, he embodied the meaning of the word.
Sam Smith’s piece for ESPN.com at the time was able to perfectly sum up the buzz surrounding the King: “No one has ever gotten the attention, buildup and hype of James. Games on pay-per-view. A record shoe contract to come. National magazine cover stories. Clearly, it's all part of the changing sports society in which teenagers are becoming a commonplace addition to NBA rosters.”
James has filled up the stat sheet ever since, averaging 27.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game for his career. He’s already a Hall of Famer, a two-time NBA champion, has played in six straight Finals and is a four-time winner of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
Between his dash for South Beach in 2010 and his return to Cleveland—his de facto home team—James’ legacy, talent and will have made him irreplaceable.
It doesn’t hurt that he also signed a lifetime deal with Nike, per ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell. Talk about a lasting legacy.
Muhammad Ali
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Muhammad Ali was without a doubt the greatest. From his in-ring theatrics to his acceptance and powerful persona out of the squared circle, Ali defined what it meant to be a professional athlete.
Even in his post-boxing career, the world flocked to Ali. "Ali became a vessel in which others would find their better selves, a symbol of perseverance against illness and of resistance to time itself, which surges ever forward," Tim Layden of SI.com wrote.
He redefined what it meant to be a fighter. Shades of style and grace were lined with bravado, creating a combination worthy of quotes and countless hours spent searching his name on YouTube.
Ali's passing at the age of 74 immediately became a time to reflect. For all of the heroics he performed inside and outside of the ring, it felt like he had been around this world forever.
There will unequivocally never be another human being like Muhammad Ali.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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There are so many reasons Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should be featured here that it actually is a bit mind-boggling.
For starters, his three seasons at UCLA, where he averaged 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds per game, helped lead the Bruins to three national championships.
Abdul-Jabbar’s collegiate career was beyond dominant. In 1967, the NCAA created the “Lew Alcindor Rule,” forbidding collegiate athletes to dunk the basketball strictly because of his play.
When he got to the NBA, he immediately reshaped the Milwaukee Bucks, guiding them to an NBA title in 1971.
Abdul-Jabbar adopted his current name later that year and would go on to become an integral part of the "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers.
At the end of his tenure with the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar had five more NBA titles to his name and retired as the NBA's all-time leading scorer—a record he still holds today. No big man changed basketball as much as Abdul-Jabbar did.
Lawrence Taylor
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Certain athletes are able to directly implement change to his or her respective sport. In football, few did it better than Lawrence Taylor.
Edge-rushers weren’t truly edge-rushers before Taylor got going in 1981. Even though the NFL didn’t start recording sacks until 1982, Taylor was a feared linebacker way before the rule went into effect.
“Lawrence Taylor, defensively, has had as big an impact as any player I've ever seen," the legendary John Madden told David Whitley in an ESPN.com piece.
He was a genuine game-changer and won an MVP award in 1986 to prove it. To this day, no defensive player has held the award since.
Bleacher Report’s Ty Schalter perfectly described how Taylor altered football: “Taylor inspired a generation of big, fast blitzing linebackers—and in turn, a dramatic change in the way offenses protect quarterbacks.”
When you can change the entire complexion of a defense while directly affecting how coaches scheme and draft, you're probably never going to be duplicated.
All stats and information via Sports-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.
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