The Best-Worst Case Scenarios for 10 Sports Legends
Everyone can't go out like Kobe Bryant—or can they?
Unless you've been totally off the grid for the past three months, you know the Los Angeles Lakers legend bid farewell to the NBA with a historic 60-point explosion in his final professional game.
Everything wasn't all roses for the Black Mamba and the Lakers. The team won the final game, but it was just its 17th victory of an abysmal season.
Still, in 20 years, Bryant's final statement might be remembered just as much as his team's horrible 2015-16 campaign. The best ending for Bryant would have been putting up that type of game in an NBA Finals clincher.
Unfortunately, the Lakers roster wasn't talented enough for that. The worst-case scenario would have been some sort of injury. All things considered, Bryant should be happy with his swan song. It's clear there are less favorable ways to end a Hall-of-Fame career.
As we take a scan across the rest of the sports landscape, we wonder aloud, what would be the best- and worst-case scenarios for 10 other legends in their upcoming seasons?
David Ortiz
1 of 10
The final season of David Ortiz's legendary career has already gotten off to a great start.
Ortiz has led the Boston Red Sox to one of baseball's best records. Through Monday, June 13, Ortiz was hitting .340 with 16 home runs and a league-leading 55 RBI.
The only way it gets better than this is if Ortiz hits a walk-off home run in the World Series clincher against the Chicago Cubs.
As a lifetime Chicagoan and Cubs fan, it was difficult to even type that last sentence.
The worst way Big Papi could end this season is in a historic slump, as the Red Sox stumble to a dreadful finish that sees them miss the postseason.
Tom Brady
2 of 10
Barring an overruling by the Supreme Court, Tom Brady is already set up to have a less-than-spectacular start to the 2016 NFL season. The New England Patriots legend will be suspended for the first four games of the campaign.
What could be worse than that?
How about an injury in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns? If said injury knocks him out for the remainder of the season and the Pats miss the playoffs behind Jimmy Garoppolo, Boston might go into a widespread depression.
On the brighter side of things, Brady could take over a team that is, say, 1-3 with Garoppolo under center. He could lead the team on a 12-game winning streak to end the regular season, the division title, a first-round bye and his fifth Super Bowl championship.
Anderson Silva
3 of 10
Depending on who you ask, Anderson Silva is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. His reign as middleweight champion lasted from 2007 to 2013, but The Spider is almost out of web and the end is near for the 41-year-old.
He's lost three of his last four fights, and the other was an overturned victory over Nick Diaz after Silva failed a post-fight drug test. He was supposed to face Uriah Hall at UFC 198, but Silva was pulled because he had surgery to remove his gallbladder.
At the most, he has two fights left...hopefully.
If he does face Hall, Silva could give UFC matchmakers the room to give him a shot at the middleweight crown. That's especially likely if Michael Bisping is still the champion.
Silva narrowly lost to Bisping in his last fight, despite knocking the Englishman out with a high knee in the third round. Silva thought the fight was over—as it should have been—but it wasn't.
He fought listlessly in the final two rounds and didn't get the decision.
Another knockout victory over Bisping would get Silva the title, and he'd be wise to retire on top. However, we all know that's not what fighters do.
His worst-case scenario is ugly to think about: He fights Hall and gets stopped quickly and viciously. While Hall is a talented striker, he's barely even ranked in the Top 10 of UFC's middleweight rankings.
That would be an embarrassing defeat for Silva, and one that should lead him to retire.
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Floyd Mayweather Jr.
4 of 10
Floyd Mayweather is still technically retired, but almost no one believes he'll stay that way.
According to fighthype.com (h/t ESPN.com), Mayweather has spoken of facing UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor in what would be an extremely lucrative attraction.
It seems that's the only fight Mayweather would be willing to come out of retirement to have.
It would be a career tragedy for Mayweather and the sport of boxing if McGregor won. A loss by knockout would be even worse.
Mayweather's perfect record wouldn't just be erased, it would be eliminated by a guy who doesn't even box full-time. That outcome would deal another blow to boxing's reputation in a time when the sport is already struggling for relevancy.
The best way for Mayweather to walk away from the ring permanently would be with a victory over McGregor. He's going to make an insane amount of money for the fight either way, and most expect him to win.
While it won't do much for his legacy as a boxer, it'll look great to the casual fan. At this point, that's who moves the needle for Mayweather.
Brock Lesnar
5 of 10
Brock Lesnar is coming back to mixed martial arts to face Mark Hunt at UFC 200 on July 9. Barring injury to the top names on the card, it's going to be the biggest event in the organization's history.
If Lesnar takes Hunt down, uses his wrestling expertise (not professional, but collegiate) and submits or pounds the Super Samoan out, he'll go back to the WWE all the more over with that universe.
He'll probably be back in the UFC for another fight at some point, and that one will be just as big as the bout with Hunt.
If things go the other way, the powerful Hunt will deck Lesnar early in the first round and The Beast will lose some of his clout with WWE fans.
The writers at WWE will have one heck of a job on their hands trying to put Lesnar over with fans if he's knocked out and embarrassed at UFC 200.
Drew Brees
6 of 10
Drew Brees is 37 years old, and while it appears he still has a few years left to play the game at a high level, it's time to start thinking about the close of his career.
If he and the Saints can't rebound from back-to-back losing seasons to become contenders again, that would be a tough pill to swallow for the ultra-competitive Brees.
If the team regresses from seven wins, talk of him finishing his career elsewhere will undoubtedly surface.
In a great scenario for Brees and the Saints, the team returns to the Super Bowl with the quarterback delivering his routine 4,500-plus passing-yard performance during the regular season.
Brees will obviously need the Saints' poor defense to improve to make that fairy tale happen.
Usain Bolt
7 of 10
The fastest man on the planet is heading into his third Olympic Games in Rio, and he has said it will be his last, according to French media group AFP (h/t ESPN.com). He's already a six-time gold medalist and an icon in his sport.
At 29 years old, he's near the end of his peak as a sprinter.
If he grabs three more gold medals (100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100-meter relay), he'd have to go down as the undisputed greatest sprinter in the history of track and field. That's a title many would argue he already owns.
A medal-less effort in Rio would prove Bolt waited too long to hang up his track shoes, and it would taint his otherwise spotless resume.
Michael Phelps
8 of 10
Mark Michael Phelps down on the "nothing left to prove" list.
He turns 31 at the end of June, but Phelps is headed to his fourth Olympics in 2016. He's already the most decorated Olympian of all time, and his 18 gold medals are tops in history.
If Phelps can again push himself to earn multiple medals in Rio, his legend as the greatest swimmer and perhaps best Olympian will grow.
If he fails miserably in the water, his past accomplishments have already given him an ironclad legacy, but it would be the worst way for a legend of his sport to sign off his career.
Alex Rodriguez
9 of 10
As it is, things aren't going well for the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez. The 40-year-old is hitting just .217 with seven home runs and 21 RBI in 39 games.
Moreover, the Yankees are a mediocre 33-34.
Should any further issues arise from his performance-enhancing drug scandal, it would kill what little respect Rodriguez still has in the baseball community. It would also be yet another negative headline in what has been a bad season for the team.
On the positive side, Rodriguez and the Yankees could catch fire in the second half.
If A-Rod were instrumental in a magical second-half run by the Bronx Bombers, he could become one of the most talked-about stories this season.
There would still be critics taking shots at his past, but many would appreciate his clean efforts.
Serena Williams
10 of 10
Serena Williams has won 21 Grand Slam singles titles. She needs one more to tie Steffi Graf, and Williams has already come up short at the Australian Open and French Open.
If she takes care of business at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, she'll close out 2016 with 23 Grand Slams, and she'll have surpassed the career accomplishments of the great Graf.
If she falters badly—like loses early in both tournaments—talks of her demise as an elite player will crank up. At 34 years old, she's already been dominant longer than most stars in her sport.
A major falloff in 2016 is the worst way for her year to end.
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