The Olympics Codexery

Legendary Players

49 entries in the The Olympics compendium.

Legendary Players — Era Chart

Bill Russell1934Wilt Chamberlain1936Kareem Abdul-Jabbar1947Julius Erving1950Moses Malone1955Larry Bird1956Magic Johnson1959Jerry West1959Oscar Robertson1960Isiah Thomas1961John Stockton1962Michael Jordan1963Karl Malone1963Shaquille O'Neal1972Tim Duncan1976LeBron James1984Charles Barkley1984David Robinson1992Hakeem Olajuwon1993Kobe Bryant1996
Michael JordanThe greatest basketball player of all time, six-time NBA champion, and global icon.Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson: Hall of Fame point guard, five-time NBA champion, and co-captain of the 199Larry BirdThe Hick from French Lick who became a Celtics legend and Olympic gold medalist.Kareem Abdul-JabbarNBA legend and six-time MVP, known for his skyhook shot and UCLA dominance.Bill RussellCaptain of the 1956 U.S. Olympic gold medal basketball team and a Triple Crown winner.Wilt ChamberlainThe Big Dipper: NBA legend, record-setter, and Hall of Famer.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 medalJerry 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 Julius ErvingDr. J: The high-flying pioneer who redefined basketball artistry.Moses MaloneChairman of the BoardsKarl 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.Isiah ThomasHall of Fame point guard and two-time NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons.David RobinsonThe Navy officer who anchored Olympic basketball's golden age, from the 1992 Dream Team's 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 HJesse OwensFour golds in Berlin, 1936: the world could not look away.Carl LewisNine golds, four Games, one legend who made Owens look like a warm-up.Michael PhelpsEight golds in eight days—the single greatest individual Olympic performance ever.Larisa LatyninaEighteen medals, three Games, one unbreakable star.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 SuleymanogluA pocket-sized giant who made the world's heaviest bar look like a feather.Aladár GerevichFive Games, five golds, one sabre — the only athlete to do it in any Olympic sport.Muhammad AliThe boy from Louisville who made the world bow at eighteen.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 Steve RedgraveFive Games, five golds, one man who made the Olympic ring feel personal.Greg LouganisHe bled on the board, stitched his scalp, and dived to gold before the camera could catch Simone BilesThe gymnast who made the impossible look like a warm-up and the Games look like home.Bob BeamonOne leap, fifty-five centimetres beyond belief, and the long jump was never the same.László PappThe poet of the Golden Team who made Hungary's Olympic gold feel inevitable.Katie LedeckyThree Games, three pools, one name etched into Olympic swimming forever.Ian ThorpeSeventeen years old, three golds, one night, and a nation that will never forget the splasLev ShaniThe athlete who made silence louder than any crowd ever could.Michael JohnsonTwo golds, one record, and the smoothest stride in Olympic history.Hicham El GuerroujThe Camel of Casablanca who carried Morocco to the summit of the 1500m world.Eddie EaganOne man, two Games, two golds — a feat no one else has ever matched.
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