50 greatest black athletes

The Undefeated partnered with SurveyMonkey to poll the public on the 50 Greatest Black Athletes. In April, 10,350 adults were asked to rank 200 athletes on 20 different surveys.

Respondents were asked how great of an athlete each person was/is using a scale of 1 to 10 stars. The athletes were ranked in order based on their average scores to form a top 50 list. From there, the top 60 athletes (including the first 10 who didn’t make the cut to 50) were used to create a final ranking. Each athlete was ranked on four factors: overall ranking, dominance, inspiration and impact on society. Average scores were calculated from each factor to create a composite score.

Athletes were ranked in order by their composite score to determine our final list, which will be unveiled in groups of 10 per week for five weeks. We’ll have more on how the public voted – broken down by race, age, gender, education level and census region – after the final group is revealed. The Undefeated’s Justin Tinsley, Jerry Bembry and Aaron Dodson wrote the biographies of the athletes, although they didn’t agree with some of the rankings. But the people have spoken, and the results should spark some serious debate.

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Here's a sample of how controversial (and ridiculous) the rankings are.  Here's number 60-50:

    No. 60: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
    No. 59: Randy Moss
    No. 58: Kobe Bryant
    No. 57: Scottie Pippen
    No. 56: Moses Malone
    No. 55: Dominique Wilkins
    No. 54: Russell Westbrook
    No. 53: Walt Frazier
    No. 52: Evander Holyfield
    No. 51: Kevin Durant

Kobe ranked behind Pippen and Dominique and Clyde?  Dominique wasn't even rated as a top 50 basketball player!  (Admittedly though, not by me.)

OK, let's scroll down the count-down.

50.  Tim Duncan

49.  Isaiah Thomas

48.  Earl Campbell

47.  Derek Jeter

46.  David Robinson

45.  Joe Frazier

44.  Barry Sanders

43.  Reggie Jackson

42.  Larry Fitzgerald (what?)

41.  Ernie Banks

40.  Roberto Clemente

39.  Ray Robinson

38.  Arthur Ashe

37.  Ken Griffey Jr.

36.  Bill Russell (you're kidding)

35.  George Foreman

34.  Herschel Walker (really? well he was good in college)

33.  Florence Griffith Joyner

32.  Carl Lewis

31.  Michael Johnson

30.  Jim Brown (I'd rank him in the top 5, only 23 in dominance?)

29.  LeBron James

28.  Stephen Curry (above LeBron and Bill Russell and Kobe?)

27.  Jackie Joyner-Kersee

26.  Wilt Chamberlain (I'd rank him in the top 5 too)

25.  Bo Jackson (he wouldn't be on my list)

24.  Sugar Ray Leonard

23.  Joe Louis

22.  Pele (he'd be top 10 on my list)

21.  Wilma Rudolph

20.  Gale Sayers (what's he doing here?)

19.  Emmitt Smith (ditto)

18.  Satchel Paige

17.  Julius Erving (well he was awesome in the ABA)

16.  Shaquille O'Neal (well he did star in Kazaam)

15.  Venus Williams (what?)

14.  Usain Bolt

13.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

12.  Walter Payton

11.  Magic Johnson

10.  Jerry Rice

9.  Gabby Douglas (really? Well they did make a movie about her)

8.  Simone Biles (huh?)

7.  Hank Aaron

6.  Serena Williams

5.  Jesse Owens

4.  Willie Mays (I'm a fan, but this high?)

3.  Muhammad Ali (I'd put him no. 1)

2.  Jackie Robinson (I'd put him no. 2)

1.  Michael Jordan

No O.J.?  No Barry Bonds?  I guess I understand..  What about Mike Tyson? Tiger Woods is not black?