Legendary Players
43 entries in the The Olympics compendium.
Michael JordanSix-time NBA champion, the player most fans call the greatest, and a name recognized around the globe.Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson: Hall of Fame point guard, five-time NBA champion, and co-captain of the 1992 Dream Team that…Larry BirdThe Hick from French Lick who became a Celtics legend and Olympic gold medalist.Bill RussellCaptain of the 1956 U.S. Olympic gold medal basketball team and a Triple Crown winner.Shaquille O'NealFour-time NBA champion and Hall of Fame center known as 'Shaq' or 'Diesel'.Tim DuncanThe Big Fundamental: NBA legend and Hall of FamerHakeem OlajuwonThe Dream who won Olympic gold in 1996.Kobe BryantTwo Olympic gold medals — Beijing 2008 and London 2012.LeBron JamesKing James: NBA all-time leading scorer, four-time champion, three-time Olympic gold medalist.Jerry WestCo-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team.Oscar RobertsonThe Big O: Olympic gold medalist, co-captain of the 1960 U.S. team, and leading scorer in a dominant…Karl MaloneTwice the mail was delivered — and both packages were gold.John StocktonNBA all-time assists and steals leader, Hall of Famer, and Utah Jazz legend.David RobinsonThe Navy officer who anchored Olympic basketball's golden age, from the 1992 Dream Team's gold medal to the…Charles BarkleyThe Round Mound of Rebound who won Olympic gold with the Dream Team.Kevin GarnettThe Big Ticket who brought gold and grit.Dirk NowitzkiThe 7-foot German who rewrote the rules of the power forward position.Kevin DurantFour-time Olympic gold medalist and Team USA's all-time leading Olympic scorer.Stephen CurryThe man who bent the arc of basketball history.Allen IversonThe Answer: NBA MVP, scoring champion, and Olympic bronze medalist.Patrick EwingDominant center for the New York Knicks and Georgetown Hoyas, Olympic gold medalist, and Hall of Famer.Jesse OwensFour golds in Berlin, 1936: the world could not look away.Carl LewisNine Olympic golds; at Los Angeles 1984 he matched Jesse Owens with four golds at one Games.Michael Phelps28 Olympic medals and 23 golds, including eight golds at Beijing 2008.Larisa LatyninaNine Olympic golds and 18 medals for the Soviet Union between 1956 and 1964.Usain BoltNine seconds, three Games, and the world held its breath every single time.Emil ZátopekOne man, three golds, one week: the week the track became his locomotive.Naim Suleymanoglu'Pocket Hercules': three Olympic golds and 51 world records for Turkey.Aladár GerevichHungarian sabre fencer with seven Olympic golds won at six different Games.Muhammad AliWon light heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics at 18, then became 'the Greatest'.Nadia ComăneciFifteen years old, one bar, and a score the scoreboard couldn't even display.Mark SpitzSeven golds, seven records, one week in Munich that rewrote the word 'impossible.'Aleksandr KarelinA man who lifted his opponents over his head and carried the sport on his shoulders for a decade.Steve RedgraveFive Olympic golds at five straight Games, three of them with Matthew Pinsent.Greg LouganisSwept both Olympic diving events in 1984 and again in 1988.Simone BilesThe gymnast who made the impossible look like a warm-up and the Games look like home.Bob BeamonHis 1968 Mexico City long jump beat the world record by 55 cm and stood for almost 23 years.László PappHungarian boxer, Olympic champion in 1948, 1952 and 1956.Katie LedeckyOlympic 800 m champion at 15 in London, now with nine Olympic golds.Ian ThorpeThe most successful athlete of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and 200 m and 400 m freestyle champion in Athens.Michael JohnsonTwo golds, one record, and the smoothest stride in Olympic history.Hicham El Guerrouj1500 m world record holder who won the 1500 m and 5000 m double at Athens 2004.Eddie EaganOne man, two Games, two golds — a feat no one else has ever matched.
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