Top 50 2010s athletes: Serena at No. 2
Ten years. In the world of sports, it can seem like an eternity.
As this decade began, the Yankees were reigning World Series champions, the Saints were about to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, Kobe Bryant was on his way to leading the Lakers to back-to-back NBA titles and Tiger Woods – with 14 major victories by the age of 34 – was seemingly a lock to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18.
How things have changed. The Yankees, Saints and Lakers have yet to return to the pinnacle of their sports, and Woods went 11 years before winning his 15th major.
Then again, some stars who ruled the sports world in 2010 have managed to stay on top.
Which ones deserve recognition as the greatest athletes of the past decade?
Thirty-five members of the USA TODAY Sports staff voted to determine the top 50 athletes of the decade. Points were given in descending order, so an athlete who was voted No. 1 received 25 points, followed by No. 2 with 24 points and so on. Point totals are in parentheses.
1. LeBron James (786 points)
The start of the decade coincided with James entering his prime, having just turned 25. He delivered, playing in eight NBA Finals and winning three titles, being voted MVP twice and winning a gold medal in 2012. Plus nobody has scored more points since the start of the 2009-10 season than James. But it’s his impact off the court that elevates James beyond other athletes of the 2010s, adding to his philanthropic efforts and becoming a leading voice on social and political issues.
2. Serena Williams (781 points)
Narrowly beat out by James, Williams is arguably the the greatest tennis player in history with 23 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, more than any man or woman in the Open Era. Not all of those majors came in this decade, but winning 10 of them – as well as Olympic golds in singles and doubles – after turning 30 might be an even more impressive feat. Over the course of her career, Williams has been ranked No. 1 in the world for an astounding 319 weeks.
3. Tom Brady (742 points)
A sixth-round draft choice in 2000, Brady’s career has spanned two decades, and he’s still going strong at 42. In the 2010s, he won two MVP awards (2010 season and ’17) and led the Patriots to five Super Bowl appearances and three titles (2014 season, ’16 and ’18).
4. Simone Biles (740 points)
Biles hit the elite gymnastics scene as a 14-year-old in 2011. Two years later, she claimed her first world championship gold medals, winning the floor exercise and all-around competitions. Biles won eight more golds at the world championships in 2014-15 before leading the USA to team gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Individually, Biles won gold in the floor exercise, vault and allaround competitions with a bronze in the balance beam. After taking 2017 off, she returned by winning seven more individual golds at the 2018 and 2019 world championships.
5. Usain Bolt (654 points)
Bolt was already an international star and Olympic champion when the decade started. But he added to his legacy by becoming the only sprinter to win gold medals in both the 100 and 200 meters in three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, 2016). He also won 11 gold medals at the track and field world championships from 2009 to 2015. And he currently holds the world record in both the 100 and the 200.
6. Mike Trout (610 points)
Trout made his major league debut in 2011 at 19 and a season later won the AL Rookie of the Year award and finished second in AL MVP voting. He hasn’t slowed down since. An eight-time AllStar, Trout has won three MVP awards and finished second four times. The only blemish on his career is a lack of postseason success, but he’s only 28.
7. Steph Curry (571 points)
The seventh pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Curry quickly established himself as one of the game’s best shooters. He led the NBA in 3-point field goals for five consecutive seasons, including a record 402 in 2015-16. An All-Star in each of the past six seasons, Curry was named the league’s MVP in 2015 as he led the Warriors to their first NBA title in 40 years. The following year, Curry repeated as MVP as the Warriors finished with an unprecedented 73-9 record but lost the NBA Finals in seven games to the Cavaliers. Entering the 2019-20 season, Curry and the Warriors have represented the Western Conference in each of the past five NBA Finals, winning three.
8. Lionel Messi (570 points)
In the decade’s greatest soccer rivalry, Messi comes out slightly ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. A prolific goal-scorer, Messi has won a record six Ballon d’Or awards (five this decade) as the world’s top player. He has spent his entire pro career with Barcelona, where he holds the record of six Golden Boot awards as the leading scorer in the top division of the five major European leagues. The native of Argentina is his country’s all-time leading scorer with 70 goals in 138 international appearances. He also led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final.
9. Michael Phelps (541 points)
Although many of his accomplishments came in the 2000s, Phelps arguably did enough alone in this decade to be considered the greatest swimmer in history. Following his unprecedented eight gold medal-winning performance at the 2008 Olympics, he cut back his schedule – winning four golds and two silvers in 2012 in London. He was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer for the 2016 Rio Games, then added five golds and one silver. His victories in the 200-meter butterfly and 200 medley made him, at 31, the oldest individual champion in Olympic swimming history.
10. Novak Djokovic (479 points)
Men’s tennis has been ruled by three players this decade. Of the three, Djokovic holds the upper hand. Of his 16 Grand Slam tournament titles, 15 have come since 2011 – including all five Wimbledon crowns and six of his record seven Australian Open titles. His 2015 season, in which he won three majors and reached the final in a fourth, is considered one of the greatest in history.
11. Katie Ledecky (443 points)
Ledecky is quite simply the most dominant freestyle swimmer in history. At 15, she claimed her first Olympic title in 2012, setting a record for an American and winning the 800-meter freestyle by more than four seconds. Breaking world records and going undefeated in every international final she entered between the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Ledecky hit more milestones at the 2016 Rio Games. She won gold in the 200-, 400- and 800meter free, posting world-record times in the 400 and 800 that still stand. All told, she’s set 14 world records.
12. Kevin Durant (398 points)
Starting in the 2009-10 season, Durant led the league in points five years in a row with the Thunder, went to the 2012 Finals, was league MVP in 2013-14 and won Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. But Durant didn’t become an NBA champion until he joined the Warriors in 2016. He won back-to-back titles (winning Finals MVP) and was the leading playoff scorer last season until he was hurt before the Finals.
13. Rafael Nadal (396 points)
Tennis’ King of Clay won the French Open eight times during the decade and three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2010. He’s the reigning champion at the French and U.S. Open. Nadal was ranked No. 1 for 140 weeks, including now, and No. 2 for 133 weeks.
14. Cristiano Ronaldo (387 points)
He signed with Real Madrid before the turn of the decade and dominated, scoring 40 or more goals three times and winning back-to-back Ballon D’Or awards in 2013 and 2014 and 2016 and 2017. He was named the top forward as Portugal won Euro 2016. He transferred to Juventus in 2018 and led that team to a first-place finish in his first year.
15. Aaron Rodgers (297 points)
The Packers’ quarterback was MVP of the 2011 Super Bowl XLV win against the Steelers, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns. He was NFL MVP in 2012, when the Packers went 15-1, and he had a career-best 4,643 passing yards and 45 TD passes. He picked up six AllPro nods and won 10 or more games seven times, including this season.
Rest of Top 50
16. Roger Federer, tennis (273 points)
17. Sidney Crosby, NHL (268 points)
18. Clayton Kershaw, MLB (256 points)
19. Alex Ovechkin, NHL (239 points)
20. Carli Lloyd, soccer (217 points)
21. American Pharoah, horse racing (160 points)
22. Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxer (154 points)
23. Max Scherzer, MLB (123 points)
24. Lindsey Vonn, skier (119 points)
25. Mikaela Shiffrin, skier (118 points)
26. Maya Moore, WNBA (104 points)
27. James Harden, NBA (86 points)
28. Justin Verlander, MLB (83 points)
29. Elena Delle Donne, WNBA (69 points)
30. Tiger Woods, golf (57 points)
31. Abby Wambach, soccer (55 points) T32. Allyson Felix, track (49 points) T32. Marcel Hirscher, skier (49 points)
34. Drew Brees, NFL (48 points)
35. Megan Rapinoe, soccer (46 points)
36. Diana Taurasi, WNBA (35 points)
37. Klay Thompson, NBA (35 points)
38. Patrick Kane, NHL (34 points)
39. Alex Morgan, soccer (28 points)
40. Lewis Hamilton, Formula One (25 points)
T41. Canelo Alvarez, boxer (21 points)
T41. Sue Bird, WNBA (21 points)
T41. Aaron Donald, NFL (21 points)
T41. Brooks Koepka, golf (21 points)
45. Jon Jones, MMA (20 points)
46. JJ Watt, NFL (18 points)
47. Julio Jones, NFL (17 points)
T48. Larry Fitzgerald, NFL (16 points)
T48. Shaun White, snowboarder (16 points)
50. Adrian Peterson, NFL (14 points)
Others receiving votes:
Jimmie Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Breanna Stewart, Mo Farah, Eliud Kipchoge, Kyle Busch, Justify, Lamar Jackson, Von Miller, Chandler Jones, Miguel Cabrera
❚ For more information on those athletes voted No. 16-50, photo galleries and videos, check out sports.usatoday.com