The big 3 have three of the cleanest reputations among all-time great athletes

clout

clout

Hall of Fame
We need to appreciate how good of sportsmen they are to not just be great on the court, but to also not be caught in any scandals that could damage their careers and even lives. I know they shouldn't get "props" for being quality people, but when you look at all-time great athletes, you won't find many with as clean of reputations as the big 3. They've never violated integrity, no legal troubles, no extramarital affairs, no exposed bigotry, barely (if ever) cause divisive controversy, and they don't act like idiots on the court (okay Djokovic sometimes goes a bit ballistic but for the most part he's gotten better over the years besides the DQ). They also give back to their communities a lot, treat their fans well, have had one partner since they were teenagers, seem to treat their personal teams well, rarely (if ever) get political in front of the media, and all seem to be good family men away from the court.

You go down the list of other great athletes and most have done some pretty high-profiled controversial mistakes:

- Michael Jordan had tons of off-court issues with allegations about his gambling leading to his father's murder
- Michael Phelps got caught with multiple DUIs
- Tiger Woods had one of the biggest sex scandals
- Tom Brady got caught deflating footballs
- LeBron James' "The Decision" turned him into a villain and his involvement in politics hasn't done him any favours recently
- Ronaldo and Messi have both gotten in trouble for tax fraud
- Maradona (RIP) had a very long list of off-court problems & wasn't exactly the biggest saint on the court either
- Kobe Bryant (RIP) had that huge assault scandal that nearly ruined his life
- OJ Simpson....we all know what he's been up to since 1994
- Lance Armstrong got caught using PEDs
- Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and countless other MLB superstars in the late 90s/early 00s got caught using PEDs
- Ryan Lochte had that Rio scandal cost him years of competing
- Tanya Harding....we all know what she did in the '94 Olympics
- Oscar Pistorius went from hero to zero after killing his girlfriend
- Mike Tyson bit off his opponent's ear and went to jail for domestic violence during what was supposed to be the prime of his career
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had all kinds of legal troubles and is overall a massive POS

The list goes on and on. The only player among the big 3 that you might argue does not have the cleanest of reputations is Djokovic as he has done some polarizing things in the past, but even then, none of that compares to some of the things other athletes have been caught in.
 
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mahesh69a

mahesh69a

Semi-Pro
There is this sport called Crikcet (there's a reason its called the gentlemen's game) - look up the legends there, you will find many who led exceptional lives on and off the field.

I am sure there are examples in other sports as well.
 
E

EdSWright

Professional
clout said:
We need to appreciate how good of sportsmen they are to not just be great on the court, but to also not be caught in any scandals that could damage their careers and even lives. I know they shouldn't get "props" for being quality people, but when you look at all-time great athletes, you won't find many with as clean of reputations as the big 3. They've never violated integrity, no legal troubles, no extramarital affairs, no exposed bigotry, barely (if ever) cause divisive controversy, and they don't act like idiots on the court (okay Djokovic sometimes goes a bit ballistic but for the most part he's gotten better over the years besides the DQ). They also give back to their communities a lot, treat their fans well, have had one partner since they were teenagers, seem to treat their personal teams well, rarely (if ever) get political in front of the media, and all seem to be good family men away from the court.

You go down the list of other great athletes and most have done some pretty high-profiled controversial mistakes:

- Michael Jordan had tons of off-court issues
- Michael Phelps got caught with multiple DUIs
- Tiger Woods had one of the biggest sex scandals
- Tom Brady got caught deflating footballs
- LeBron James' "The Decision" turned him into a villain and his involvement in politics hasn't done him any favours recently
- Ronaldo and Messi have both gotten in trouble for tax fraud
- Maradona (RIP) had a very long list of off-court problems
- Kobe Bryant (RIP) had that huge assault scandal that nearly ruined his life
- OJ Simpson....we all know what he's been up to since 1994
- Lance Armstrong got caught using PEDs
- Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and countless other MLB superstars in the late 90s/early 00s got caught using PEDs
- Ryan Lochte had that Rio scandal cost him years of competing
- Tanya Harding....we all know what she did in the '94 Olympics
- Oscar Pistorius went from hero to zero after killing his girlfriend
- Mike Tyson bit off his opponent's ear and went to jail for domestic violence during what was supposed to be the prime of his career
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had all kinds of legal troubles and is overall a massive POS

The list goes on and on. The only player among the big 3 that you might argue does not have the cleanest of reputations is Djokovic as he has done some controversial and polarizing things in the past, but even then, none of that compares to some of the things other athletes have been caught in.
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Clean?
 
clout

clout

Hall of Fame
Azure said:
Cricket has had most of the cleanest athletes imo.
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Ice hockey hasn't had a whole lot of controversial figures either. For a sport all about physical contact, that's also rather impressive; I mean the most hated figure in their sport is the commissioner lol
 
aditya123

aditya123

Hall of Fame
Azure said:
Cricket has had most of the cleanest athletes imo.
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True.... Except for a few here and there, Cricket has got a lot of Gentlemen. Rahul Dravid, Vvs Lakshman, Alastair cook , Ab devillers etc. But Dravid tops the list and will continue to top the list for generations to come.... You will never ever find another gentle man of the highest quality like Dravid in any other sport.
 
JaoSousa

JaoSousa

Hall of Fame
clout said:
We need to appreciate how good of sportsmen they are to not just be great on the court, but to also not be caught in any scandals that could damage their careers and even lives. I know they shouldn't get "props" for being quality people, but when you look at all-time great athletes, you won't find many with as clean of reputations as the big 3. They've never violated integrity, no legal troubles, no extramarital affairs, no exposed bigotry, barely (if ever) cause divisive controversy, and they don't act like idiots on the court (okay Djokovic sometimes goes a bit ballistic but for the most part he's gotten better over the years besides the DQ). They also give back to their communities a lot, treat their fans well, have had one partner since they were teenagers, seem to treat their personal teams well, rarely (if ever) get political in front of the media, and all seem to be good family men away from the court.

You go down the list of other great athletes and most have done some pretty high-profiled controversial mistakes:

- Michael Jordan had tons of off-court issues with allegations about his gambling leading to his father's murder
- Michael Phelps got caught with multiple DUIs
- Tiger Woods had one of the biggest sex scandals
- Tom Brady got caught deflating footballs
- LeBron James' "The Decision" turned him into a villain and his involvement in politics hasn't done him any favours recently
- Ronaldo and Messi have both gotten in trouble for tax fraud
- Maradona (RIP) had a very long list of off-court problems & wasn't exactly the biggest saint on the court either
- Kobe Bryant (RIP) had that huge assault scandal that nearly ruined his life
- OJ Simpson....we all know what he's been up to since 1994
- Lance Armstrong got caught using PEDs
- Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and countless other MLB superstars in the late 90s/early 00s got caught using PEDs
- Ryan Lochte had that Rio scandal cost him years of competing
- Tanya Harding....we all know what she did in the '94 Olympics
- Oscar Pistorius went from hero to zero after killing his girlfriend
- Mike Tyson bit off his opponent's ear and went to jail for domestic violence during what was supposed to be the prime of his career
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had all kinds of legal troubles and is overall a massive POS

The list goes on and on. The only player among the big 3 that you might argue does not have the cleanest of reputations is Djokovic as he has done some polarizing things in the past, but even then, none of that compares to some of the things other athletes have been caught in.
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Nice list. I would say in basketball LeBron doesn't really have any off court issues. Jordan's weren't way too big either ; few people give them a thought. But especially Fed and Rafa have almost nothing against them.
 
clout

clout

Hall of Fame
Beacon Hill said:
Djokovic and why?
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With Novak those were all brief allegations, nothing much came of it after a bit. I won't get into detail with LeBron but I can't help but think the public opinion on LeBron (at least in the US) has never been so divided than it has been in the last 12ish months.
 
Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill

Hall of Fame
clout said:
With Novak those were all brief allegations, nothing much came of it after a bit. I won't get into detail with LeBron but I can't help but think the public opinion on LeBron (at least in the US) has never been so divided than it has been in the last 12ish months.
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Djokovic admitted to it. I don't care at all, but just pointing out that flaw in the list. With Lebron, I'm not sure standing up to change what you believe is unjust is a character flaw, even if some were turned off by it. Look at how Ali is now viewed.
 
The Guru

The Guru

Legend
clout said:
With Novak those were all brief allegations, nothing much came of it after a bit. I won't get into detail with LeBron but I can't help but think the public opinion on LeBron (at least in the US) has never been so divided than it has been in the last 12ish months.
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He was far more hated in 2011. That's when I went from kinda neutral on him to being a hater. There are only two athletes I truly despise Aaron Rodgers (Bears Fan) and LBJ. Most LBJ haters dislike him because he ruined the game by making it all about superteams and generally being an arrogant selfish ass. I don't think many people care about his politics. He's a basketball player if you take him seriously on politics you're a moron.
 
E

encylopedia

Professional
mahesh69a said:
There is this sport called Crikcet (there's a reason its called the gentlemen's game) - look up the legends there, you will find many who led exceptional lives on and off the field.

I am sure there are examples in other sports as well.
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The truth is that most major sports have plenty - the majority - of athletes who manage to stay out of major trouble. It's an asinine thread right down to the cherry-picked list at the beginning (Tonya Harding - lol....tells you something right there).

Sorry guys....it's great that Nadal, Federer, Djokovic haven't been in major trouble (as is true of almost the entire roster of great players), but this is just fanboy praise. I really don't think avoiding major scandal for pampered, millionaires is all that admirable and praiseworthy. ROFL. As I said, MOST do (one exception is the "PED" issues - that's really just a matter of who's been caught - and that includes tennis)

Have most of you on TW avoided jail time? CONGRATULATIONS - YOU'RE THE BESTEST EVERRRRR!!!! - or at least as good as these three ;-)
 
E

encylopedia

Professional
clout said:
Ice hockey hasn't had a whole lot of controversial figures either. For a sport all about physical contact, that's also rather impressive; I mean the most hated figure in their sport is the commissioner lol
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WHAT??? LOL. Uh....I'm Canadian....I can probably name a dozen players who were charged with serious crimes off the top of my head. This doesn't happen to the majority of players of course - just like every other sport as I mentioned in my previous post.
 
clout

clout

Hall of Fame
encylopedia said:
The truth is that most major sports have plenty - the majority - of athletes who manage to stay out of major trouble. It's an asinine thread right down to the cherry-picked list at the beginning (Tonya Harding - lol....tells you something right there).

Sorry guys....it's great that Nadal, Federer, Djokovic haven't been in major trouble (as is true of almost the entire roster of great players), but this is just fanboy praise. I really don't think avoiding major scandal for pampered, millionaires is all that admirable and praiseworthy. ROFL. As I said, MOST do (one exception is the "PED" issues - that's really just a matter of who's been caught - and that includes tennis)

Have most of you on TW avoided jail time? CONGRATULATIONS - YOU'RE THE BESTEST EVERRRRR!!!! - or at least as good as these three ;-)
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I'm only talking about players who are all-time great athletes and it's hard to find athletes of their stature with such clean records.
 
Z

zuluzazu

Hall of Fame
aditya123 said:
True.... Except for a few here and there, Cricket has got a lot of Gentlemen. Rahul Dravid, Vvs Lakshman, Alastair cook , Ab devillers etc. But Dravid tops the list and will continue to top the list for generations to come.... You will never ever find another gentle man of the highest quality like Dravid in any other sport.
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Actually in cricket country influences what kind of person you are. Australian guys like Shane Warne have been involved in scandal. If you look at it New Zealand players are one of the best and Australia are the worst when it comes to "good guys". Even in tennis Australian guys are brats. BTW being an Indian, I don't feel good discussing cricket after the Adelaide debacle. It has hurt me as a fan.
 
aditya123

aditya123

Hall of Fame
zuluzazu said:
Actually in cricket country influences what kind of person you are. Australian guys like Shane Warne have been involved in scandal. If you look at it New Zealand players are one of the best and Australia are the worst when it comes to "good guys". Even in tennis Australian guys are brats. BTW being an Indian, I don't feel good discussing cricket after the Adelaide debacle. It has hurt me as a fan.
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Aussies and Pakistan have some issues of cheating and match fixing as well. Can't deny it , but on the whole lots of good guys do come from cricket and its a fact
 
B

BevelDevil

Hall of Fame
Top tennis players make a ton of money through corporate sponsorships. They have a massive incentive to be squeaky clean.
 
mahesh69a

mahesh69a

Semi-Pro
In cricket. though Australia are known for their win at any cost attitude, Adam Gilchrist is highly respected, almost like Dravid. I also like Pollock (one of the nicest people in all sports, much like Dravid), Kallis, Ntini, Boucher, Klusener, DeVilliers, Amla etc. and feel South Africa after Cronje has produced really great cricketers. Lets not forget the West Indies legends of the past.
 
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dropshotlikeitshot

dropshotlikeitshot

Professional
NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson has a spotless reputation. Charitable, humble, polite, respectful. Absolutely wonderful guy. The only reason many hated him was because of how dominant he was, winning 5 straight championships (nobody else has won more than 3) at his peak.
 
6august

6august

Hall of Fame
Nadal is the proud son of Mallorca, was a fan of Barcelona in his childhood and finally worshiped Real Madrid - the team used to be backed up by dictator Franco. He even got the Grand Cross Honor from Madrid government! His loyalty is something very questionable.

Roger? He can't keep receiving the Sportmanship Award by Moey with a straight face like that. If I was him, I would would refuse it.

Djokovic is Serbian future President. There's no clean politician, I believe.
 
aditya123

aditya123

Hall of Fame
mahesh69a said:
In cricket. though Australia are known for their win at any cost attitude, Adam Gilchrist is highly respected, almost like Dravid. I also like Pollock (one of the nicest people in all sports, much like Dravid), Boucher, Klusener, DeVilliers, Amla etc. and feel South Africa after Cronje has produced really great cricketers. Lets not forget the West Indies legends of the past.
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Agree with Gilchrist, but not with pollock. ( Pollock may be nice, but he used to appeal for everything which took away some "gentleness" out of this man) Btw no one comes closer to Dravid lmao.... He is too ahead of others
 
socallefty

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Tennis greats from the previous generation like Sampras and Edberg had stellar reputations as human beings on and off the court also. As did the greats of the Sixties. It’s only the punks from the Seventies and Eighties like Nastase, Connors, Borg (after he retired and become a druggie), McEnroe etc. (and Agassi/Becker from the next generation) who behaved terrible on or off the court.

The Aussies since the Ian Chappell era have been the biggest jerks in cricket with their sledging/outright cheating and it looks like the current generation of Aussie tennis players like Tomic and Kyrgios are not trying to live up to a high standard either.
 
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Phoenix1983

Phoenix1983

G.O.A.T.
socallefty said:
The Aussies since the Ian Chappell era have been the biggest jerks in cricket with their sledging/outright cheating and it looks like the current generation of Aussie tennis players like Tomic and Kyrgios are not trying to live up to a high standard either.
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Interestingly, the Aussie tennis greats in their golden era were renowned for being gentlemen.

Perhaps the sledging culture in cricket has spread across to tennis in recent years.
 
MasterZeb

MasterZeb

Hall of Fame
mahesh69a said:
There is this sport called Crikcet (there's a reason its called the gentlemen's game) - look up the legends there, you will find many who led exceptional lives on and off the field.

I am sure there are examples in other sports as well.
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Tendulkar supports Modi
 
ibbi

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I'm sorry, but some of the things you mention, certainly the Lebron thing, double certainly the Jordan conspiracy theory, and frankly even the Brady thing, bad as that was, do not compare to Djokovic's attempts to spread his ignorant backwards stupidity (Brady's TB12 crap is probably more comparable to this :-D) and people have been calling Nadal a doper since he broke out. If you're going to bring up other conspiracy theories how can you ignore that one? Hell, if you're going to mention deflategate how can you ignore all of Nadal's bending of the rules? It's the same thing. Hell, you bring up the Tiger 'sex scandal' (he fvcked around) while ignoring the fact that Djokovic was more than once accused of the same thing.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
6august said:
Nadal is the proud son of Mallorca, was a fan of Barcelona in his childhood and finally worshiped Real Madrid - the team used to be backed up by dictator Franco. He even got the Grand Cross Honor from Madrid government! His loyalty is something very questionable.

Roger? He can't keep receiving the Sportmanship Award by Moey with a straight face like that. If I was him, I would would refuse it.

Djokovic is Serbian future President. There's no clean politician, I believe.
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Rafa has never been a FC Barcelona fan. His uncle Miguel Angel Nadal played for FC Barcelona, that's why Rafa wore a FC Barcelona kit sometimes in his childhood. The extended Nadal family went to watch Miguel Angel's matches and, of course, they supported him.
The extended Nadal family is "split" over which football team they support - Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. Family members have followed in their ancestors' footsteps. :) Rafa's paternal grandfather was a Real Madrid fan and his paternal grandmother is a FC Barcelona fan.
Rafa's dad is a Real Madrid fan - he followed in his father's footsteps and so did Rafa and his sister. One of Rafa's paternal uncles is also a Real Madrid fan. Toni Nadal is a FC Barcelona fan.

As for loyalty to his country, it's a known fact that Rafa is a patriotic player.

I wonder why you think he shouldn't have accepted the Grand Cross (of the Order of the 2nd of May) from the regional government of the Community of Madrid. :unsure: Rafa is the 5-time Madrid Masters champion and an 'Adopted Son of Madrid' (named by Madrid's regional government in May 2014).
 
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Italian Stallion

Italian Stallion

Rookie
You've cherry-picked a bunch of athletes who had controversies (only one of whom is female for some reason). You could make a long list of all-time great athletes who have good reputations.
 
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RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
Some of this is hard to assess.
Generally, tennis has been in good hands with The Big 3 at the top...even though I recognize that Novak has had a pretty rough year.

Per LeBron, he's been in the public eye since high school days, and he has handled almost everything quite well.

If you look at, arguably, the best players in all the US pro sports, the games are in pretty good hands, though I'm not pretending that any saints exist.

NFL: Mahomes and Rodgers are the leading MVP candidates...bright guys, charismatic on the field, no scandals.

NBA: LeBron, Steph, Giannis, KD, AD, Kawhi...all pretty solid guys.

NHL: Who are the faces of the league currently? Connor McDavid - the greatest talent - plays in near-obscurity... Crosby and Ovechkin? Meh.

MLB: Mike Trout -- low-profile, but solid as hell, Mookie Betts seems to be a great guy, etc.

The PGA has better players right now than Tiger (is, not was) but he's still the biggest name. He didn't come through unscathed, but has seemed to turn the corner.
 
T

Thetouch

Professional
clout said:
We need to appreciate how good of sportsmen they are to not just be great on the court, but to also not be caught in any scandals that could damage their careers and even lives. I know they shouldn't get "props" for being quality people, but when you look at all-time great athletes, you won't find many with as clean of reputations as the big 3.

You go down the list of other great athletes and most have done some pretty high-profiled controversial mistakes:

- Michael Jordan had tons of off-court issues with allegations about his gambling leading to his father's murder
- Michael Phelps got caught with multiple DUIs
- Tiger Woods had one of the biggest sex scandals
- Tom Brady got caught deflating footballs
- LeBron James' "The Decision" turned him into a villain and his involvement in politics hasn't done him any favours recently
- Ronaldo and Messi have both gotten in trouble for tax fraud
- Maradona (RIP) had a very long list of off-court problems & wasn't exactly the biggest saint on the court either
- Kobe Bryant (RIP) had that huge assault scandal that nearly ruined his life
- OJ Simpson....we all know what he's been up to since 1994
- Lance Armstrong got caught using PEDs
- Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and countless other MLB superstars in the late 90s/early 00s got caught using PEDs
- Ryan Lochte had that Rio scandal cost him years of competing
- Tanya Harding....we all know what she did in the '94 Olympics
- Oscar Pistorius went from hero to zero after killing his girlfriend
- Mike Tyson bit off his opponent's ear and went to jail for domestic violence during what was supposed to be the prime of his career
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had all kinds of legal troubles and is overall a massive POS
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First of all Tanya Harding is not an alltime great athlete by any means, not even in ice skating and the same goes for Lochte and Pistorius lol

But anyway, what we need to consider here are an athlete's upbringing, his social status and maybe even whether he plays in a teamsport or solo.

I guess most of these athletes on the list are from team sports. There is a good chance that team sports produce more "outlaws" than sports like tennis or swimming. Usually you have to play like 2 games a week on average so there is a lot of adrenalin building up in your body and you are also surrounded by an environment of high testosteron. Not every team mate of yours is married, a saint or religious, so you probably get caught up with the team's dynamic and start drinking and partying after games and groupies will chase you hard too.

And as far as using PED's goes, I wouldn't be suprised if all athletes use them regardless who they are. There were some massive drug allegations against Real and Barcelona in the past because both teams seemed to have used the services of the doping cyclist Doctor Fuentes. Spain has refused to extradite him to foreign courts since and the reason is because he might be forced to tell the truth about the use of PED in spanish football. Juventus was officially convicted of supplying their players with all kinds of PEDs 15 years ago by an italian court but it barely made the news.

Boxing is different than most solo sports though because most boxers come from poor or broken families and many used to deal with drugs and other crimes in their youth. Being a famous boxer means you fight maybe 2 fights a year and don't train regularly so what's left for you to do other than partying hard and taking drugs? With tennis it's almost impossible to even party hard and stay on top because you are travelling all around the world every week by yourself and the people who take care of you. But anyway, like I said I wouldn't be surprised at all if Fedalovic had to deal with PED, tax frauding or other allegations once they are retired from tennis.
 
MotoboXer

MotoboXer

Professional
clout said:
We need to appreciate how good of sportsmen they are to not just be great on the court, but to also not be caught in any scandals that could damage their careers and even lives. I know they shouldn't get "props" for being quality people, but when you look at all-time great athletes, you won't find many with as clean of reputations as the big 3. They've never violated integrity, no legal troubles, no extramarital affairs, no exposed bigotry, barely (if ever) cause divisive controversy, and they don't act like idiots on the court (okay Djokovic sometimes goes a bit ballistic but for the most part he's gotten better over the years besides the DQ). They also give back to their communities a lot, treat their fans well, have had one partner since they were teenagers, seem to treat their personal teams well, rarely (if ever) get political in front of the media, and all seem to be good family men away from the court.

You go down the list of other great athletes and most have done some pretty high-profiled controversial mistakes:

- Michael Jordan had tons of off-court issues with allegations about his gambling leading to his father's murder
- Michael Phelps got caught with multiple DUIs
- Tiger Woods had one of the biggest sex scandals
- Tom Brady got caught deflating footballs
- LeBron James' "The Decision" turned him into a villain and his involvement in politics hasn't done him any favours recently
- Ronaldo and Messi have both gotten in trouble for tax fraud
- Maradona (RIP) had a very long list of off-court problems & wasn't exactly the biggest saint on the court either
- Kobe Bryant (RIP) had that huge assault scandal that nearly ruined his life
- OJ Simpson....we all know what he's been up to since 1994
- Lance Armstrong got caught using PEDs
- Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and countless other MLB superstars in the late 90s/early 00s got caught using PEDs
- Ryan Lochte had that Rio scandal cost him years of competing
- Tanya Harding....we all know what she did in the '94 Olympics
- Oscar Pistorius went from hero to zero after killing his girlfriend
- Mike Tyson bit off his opponent's ear and went to jail for domestic violence during what was supposed to be the prime of his career
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had all kinds of legal troubles and is overall a massive POS

The list goes on and on. The only player among the big 3 that you might argue does not have the cleanest of reputations is Djokovic as he has done some polarizing things in the past, but even then, none of that compares to some of the things other athletes have been caught in.
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"besides the DQ" LMFAO
 
D

Deleted member 777746

Guest
So let me get this straight: we should be celebrating athletes for not committing crimes such as murder, assault, and doping? Might as well thrown in a ribbon for not starting any wars, overthrowing democracies, or bankrupting treasuries either.
 
T

Thetouch

Professional
PeoplesChamp said:
You're kidding right? Ryan Lochte is the 2nd most decorated swimmer in history only trailing Michael Phelps.
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Maybe in swimming he is, even though I guess he hasn't reached the popularity of Phelps, Spitz, Thorpe or even Biondi but then again I am no swim expert either so I might be wrong. My point was that he is definitely not an alltime great athlete overall, at least not on the same level as Jordan, Tyson, Kobe etc.
 
F

FRV4

Hall of Fame
octobrina10 said:
Rafa has never been a FC Barcelona fan. His uncle Miguel Angel Nadal played for FC Barcelona, that's why Rafa wore a FC Barcelona kit sometimes in his childhood. The extended Nadal family went to watch Miguel Angel's matches and, of course, they supported him.
The extended Nadal family is "split" over which football team they support - Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. Family members have followed in their ancestors' footsteps. :) Rafa's paternal grandfather was a Real Madrid fan and his paternal grandmother is a FC Barcelona fan.
Rafa's dad is a Real Madrid fan - he followed in his father's footsteps and so did Rafa and his sister. One of Rafa's paternal uncles is also a Real Madrid fan. Toni Nadal is a FC Barcelona fan.

As for loyalty to his country, it's a known fact that Rafa is a patriotic player.

I wonder why you think he shouldn't have accepted the Grand Cross (of the Order of the 2nd of May) from the regional government of the Community of Madrid. :unsure: Rafa is the 5-time Madrid Masters champion and an 'Adopted Son of Madrid' (named by Madrid's regional government in May 2014).
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Unrelated, kind of, but isn't Uncle Toni a potential candidate to become a Barcelona president or something?

Azure said:
Cricket has had most of the cleanest athletes imo.
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Do you really consider cricket a top tier sport though? I know this comes off as offensive which is not what I intend, but I never have. I don't think those bowlers are that talented.
Edit: perhaps "refined" would be a more appropriate word than "talented"
 
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King No1e

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
FRV4 said:
Unrelated, kind of, but isn't Uncle Toni a potential candidate to become a Barcelona president or something?


Do you really consider cricket a top tier sport though? I know this comes off as offensive which is not what I intend, but I never have. I don't think those bowlers are that talented.
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Cricket absolutely is a top tier sport. It's the 2nd most popular worldwide behind football IIRC.
 
E

encylopedia

Professional
clout said:
I'm only talking about players who are all-time great athletes and it's hard to find athletes of their stature with such clean records.
Click to expand...

UH no...it ISN'T. As I outlined. Saying it's so, is not a rebuttal. Look, I know this is a self-gratification thread and not one seriously considered, so I'm not going to argue the obvious for those who want to just mindlessly go along with it. If ya think REAL REAL hard though, you can think of LOTS of greats from all sports who were just as clean. In fact, you kind of have to think MUCH HARDER to cherry-pick bad-apple examples, and even then, it isn't a terribly impressive list. It's human nature to remember SCANDAL though....oooh..... and not all the tennis greats, golf greats, cricket greats - and every other sport for that matter (if I had to pick a thug-ridden sport it's boxing - one of my favorites) - from eras past and present, who had clean lives. You're actually disrespecting all of those people. I know it won't stop you though. Enjoy.
 
F

FRV4

Hall of Fame
King No1e said:
Cricket absolutely is a top tier sport. It's the 2nd most popular worldwide behind football IIRC.
Click to expand...
I don't know, this isn't that convincing an argument for me. Let's agree to disagree here. Not tryna discourage your enjoyment of the sport. I'm sure it's a great sport, I just don't think the players are good enough to where you can hold them up to the tennis greats.
 
King No1e

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
FRV4 said:
I don't know, this isn't that convincing an argument for me. Let's agree to disagree here. Not tryna discourage your enjoyment of the sport. I'm sure it's a great sport, I just don't think the players are good enough to where you can hold them up to the tennis greats.
Click to expand...
I don't have the patience for cricket. I can watch 5 hours of Nadal and Djokovic wasting time between points, but cricket is too much for me.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
FRV4 said:
Unrelated, kind of, but isn't Uncle Toni a potential candidate to become a Barcelona president or something?

....
Click to expand...

Toni Nadal will become a member of FC Barcelona’s Board of Directors if Viktor Font (an entrepreneur) will win the Club's presidential election at the beginning of 2021. Toni has always been a FC Barcelona fan.

Reuters, Nov.6, 2020: ¤¤ Toni Nadal, uncle and former coach of 20-times Grand Slam tennis champion Rafa, could be in line for a place on the board of Barcelona after announcing on Friday he has joined the team of presidential candidate Victor Font.
If Font wins the presidency, Nadal will be in charge of institutional relations and will lead a new department created to promote good behaviour among youth players.
...Toni’s brother Miguel Angel Nadal made more than 200 appearances for Barca as a defender, playing alongside current coach Ronald Koeman in Johan Cruyff’s famous ‘Dream Team’ which won the club’s first European Cup in 1992.
But nephew Rafa is an ardent Real Madrid fan.
“I’m very aware that my nephew is a Real Madrid fan and my brother is a former Barcelona player but I don’t hate our rivals,” he [Toni Nadal] added.¤¤
uk.reuters.com

Reuters | Breaking International News & Views

Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.
uk.reuters.com uk.reuters.com
 
Azure

Azure

G.O.A.T.
MasterZeb said:
Oxymoron
Click to expand...
I can understand why you would think so - earlier test matches weren't so dynamic, giving such an impression. Additionally, players like Inzamam and Ranatunga were, to put it mildly, healthy. That said, the sport is quite demanding, especially when the sport is played in warm weather and is a test of skill and endurance, much more than many other sports.

FRV4 said:
Do you really consider cricket a top tier sport though? I know this comes off as offensive which is not what I intend, but I never have. I don't think those bowlers are that talented.
Edit: perhaps "refined" would be a more appropriate word than "talented"
Click to expand...
I don't see anything offensive, considering that I have no stakes in this discussion!

Is cricket a top tier sport? Certainly. I don't enjoy the sport as much as I did at one point in time but there is plenty of thrill in and skill in it. What do you mean by refinement? For sure, there is plenty of skill honed over hours of practice over the years. If you meant about their refinement as a person, I doubt you'd find a better man than Kumble for instance.

For those who think cricket is an 'easy' sport, a nice article here - cricket is a professional sport that requires excellent conditioning and great talent.

Here Are The Top 5 Games In Terms Of Distance Travel

1. Football 11.2 Kms In 90 Minutes

2. Hockey 9 Kms In 60 Minutes

3. Cricket 12 Kms In 9 Hours

4. Tennis 4.8 Kms In 2 Hours 40 Minutes On Average

5. Basketball 4.3 Kms In 48 Minutes
 
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