The 10 Best Athlete Impersonators

Derek Holland's performance as Ron Washington, Harry Caray and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Game 5 of the 2011 World Series will go down as one of the more comical moments in postseason baseball history.

It's that riveting performance that has sparked the buzzing topic of discussion on who the greatest athlete impersonators are in sports. 

Whether it's teammates poking fun at other teammates or superstars imitating legends, there's always room for impersonations in sports.

So here's one writer's list of the best impersonations by athletes, starting from 10 and moving to one.

10. Derrick "Dizzy" Grant: Rondo, Charles Barkley, Malone, MJ

A member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Dizzy Grant is known by teammates and fans to be one of the best imitators of NBA players.

Who knew Rajon Rondo had a little Chris Tucker in him?

9. Aaron Rodgers: Allen Iverson

The lack of commitment to the role of A.I. made this one hard for me to put on here.

Nevertheless, it made the cut.

Rodgers is by most experts' opinion the best quarterback in the NFL right now and it's always fun to see one superstar athlete make fun of another.

He didn't give an Oscar-winning performance, but it was still a humorous effort.

8. 2008 Houston Rockets' Team: Dikembe Mutombo

Let's just do a little mini-ranking of the players' Dikembe Mutombo impressions.

1. Yao Ming: Had to give him the top spot for, "Shake finga."

2. Steve Novak: Almost spot on

3. Aaron Brooks

4. Luis Scola

5. Chuck Hayes

6. Bobby Jackson

7. Tracy McGrady/Rafer Alston/Luther Head: No attempt

8. Carl Landry: Pitiful

7. Blake Griffin: Mars Blackmon

If you grew up in the '90s then you already know that Michael Jordan was everywhere. You also know that Spike Lee's character Mars Blackmon was Nike and Air Jordan's primary pitchman.

Blake Griffin has been rumored by family and teammates at Oklahoma to be very skilled himself when it comes to impersonating others. 

Here, Griffin shows us his best Mars "Blake-man" impersonation in his campaign for friend and NFL draft prospect Jordan Cameron.

Not bad, but stick to basketball, Blake.

6. Ryan Dempster: Harry Caray

Sure, Derek Holland did his in the middle of Game 5 of the World Series, but he's got nothing on Ryan Dempster's Harry Caray.

This might be the best Harry Caray impersonation I've ever seen—and that includes Will Ferrell's on SNL.

I'm kidding of course, nothing can top Ferrell.

But he does have the inch-thick glasses, the corny sayings and probably the best part of it all—he plays for the Cubs.

If he starts doing the daily play-by-play as Caray, maybe the Cubs will start winning again. At this point Chicago is willing to try anything, right?

5. Kyle Lohse: Tony La Russa

From behind you would never guess that wasn't Tony La Russa. But video evidence shows otherwise. 

Kyle Lohse knocked this one out of the park and even took his act so far as to exchange lineup cards at home plate. 

Nice work, Kyle.

I'm still convinced La Russa has been rocking a toupée all this time.

4. Derek Holland: Harry Caray and Arnold Schwarzenegger

While I do think Dempster's Caray impersonation was spot-on, the fact that Holland delivered a near perfect Arnold Schwarzenegger along with Caray gives him the slight edge.

Plus his 'stache is creepily beautiful.

Here is his full performance.

3. Novak Djokovic: John McEnroe

How do people not like this guy? He brings fun to the game of tennis, and if you think it's disrespectful then lighten up a little bit. 

Djokovic not only dominated tennis in 2011, but he made fun of his opponents in the process.

He's impersonated everyone from Maria Sharapova to Rafael Nadal and has even done a little boy band dancing. Djokovic is the face of tennis right now and is having fun while on top—something that must be admired.  

Props to McEnroe for playing along, too. The best part was when he got a little redemption by winning the point. 

2. Rob Ezell: Nick Saban

Here's one many of you probably haven't seen. Rob Ezell isn't a professional athlete or college star by any means, but the kid sure is ballsy.

As a walk-on wide receiver at the University of Alabama, Ezell became widely popular with this impression of hard-nosed head coach of the Crimson Tide,Nick Saban. Let's not forget Saban is a guy who made 6-foot-5, 350-pound Manuel Wright cry.

I couldn't leave Ezell off the list because, well, who doesn't like to see the meanest coach in America get made fun of?

Oh, yeah, Mr. Ezell landed himself a job working as a graduate assistant to coach Saban. Maybe the "Nick-tator" does have a sense of humor after all. (Yeah right.)

1. Dwight Howard: Multiple

There's no one else that could've topped this list.

While Dwight Howard may be trying to brand himself as the new Superman, he's becoming more popularly known as the prankster and impersonator of the NBA.

He's done a flawless Michael Jackson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stan Van Gundy, just to name a few.

When can we expect to see Dwight host Saturday Night Live?