GOAT Rank · 1370

Greatest Athletes from United States

This ranking is led by Michael Phelps, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Carl Lewis. GOAT Rank currently ranks 1370 eligible athletes from United States using verified career records across dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Quick answer

According to GOAT Rank's current model, Michael Phelps ranks #1 on this list with a GOAT Score of 95.2.

How the GOAT Score is calculated →

#AthleteGOAT Score

Michael Phelps

95.2

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2000–2016
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 100.0
Dominance: 99.0
Statistics: 98.0
Honours: 100.0
Longevity: 93.0

Athlete: Michael Phelps

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

93.3

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1969–1989
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 95.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 95.0
Longevity: 96.0

Athlete: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Carl Lewis

93.1

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1979–1997
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 93.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Carl Lewis

Diana Taurasi

92.3

Sport: Basketball
Career: 2004–2025
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 94.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 96.0

Athlete: Diana Taurasi

Katie Ledecky

92.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2012–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 97.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 96.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Katie Ledecky

Kristine Lilly

92.0

Sport: Football
Career: 1987–2010
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 98.0

Athlete: Kristine Lilly

Mia Hamm

91.4

Sport: Football
Career: 1987–2004
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Mia Hamm

Wilt Chamberlain

91.1

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1959–1973
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 95.0
Statistics: 99.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Wilt Chamberlain

Bill Russell

90.6

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1956–1969
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 96.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 97.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Bill Russell

Sugar Ray Robinson

90.5

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1940–1965
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 95.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Sugar Ray Robinson

Carli Lloyd

90.5

Sport: Football
Career: 2005–2021
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Carli Lloyd

Muhammad Ali

90.3

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1960–1981
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 96.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 95.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Muhammad Ali

Floyd Mayweather

90.2

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1996–2017
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 94.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Floyd Mayweather

Magic Johnson

90.1

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1979–1996
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 94.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 93.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Magic Johnson

Allyson Felix

90.0

Sport: Athletics
Career: 2003–2022
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Allyson Felix

Tiffeny Milbrett

89.6

Sport: Football
Career: 1991–2006
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Tiffeny Milbrett

Joy Fawcett

89.6

Sport: Football
Career: 1987–2004
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Joy Fawcett

Megan Rapinoe

89.5

Sport: Football
Career: 2006–2023
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Megan Rapinoe

Sue Bird

89.4

Sport: Basketball
Career: 2002–2022
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 96.0

Athlete: Sue Bird

Larry Bird

89.4

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1979–1992
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 93.0
Statistics: 93.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Larry Bird

Ray Allen

89.3

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1996–2014
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Ray Allen

Julie Foudy

89.2

Sport: Football
Career: 1987–2004
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Julie Foudy

Michelle Akers

89.0

Sport: Football
Career: 1985–2000
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Michelle Akers

Teresa Edwards

89.0

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1984–2004
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Teresa Edwards

Rick Barry

88.8

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1965–1980
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Rick Barry

102

Tim Duncan

88.7

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1997–2016
Country: 🇻🇮 United States

Peak: 89.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 91.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Tim Duncan

104

John Havlicek

88.7

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1962–1978
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: John Havlicek

108

Briana Scurry

88.6

Sport: Football
Career: 1994–2008
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Briana Scurry

109

Michael Johnson

88.5

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1988–2001
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Michael Johnson

112

Martina Navratilova

88.4

Sport: Tennis
Career: 1973–1994
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 95.0
Statistics: 93.0
Honours: 96.0
Longevity: 97.0

Athlete: Martina Navratilova

114

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

88.4

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1980–2001
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 95.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Jackie Joyner-Kersee

122

Tobin Heath

88.4

Sport: Football
Career: 2008–2022
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Tobin Heath

124

Roy Jones Jr.

88.3

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1989–2018
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Roy Jones Jr.

126

Stephen Curry

88.2

Sport: Basketball
Career: 2009–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 91.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Stephen Curry

136

Serena Williams

88.0

Sport: Tennis
Career: 1995–2022
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 96.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 95.0
Longevity: 93.0

Athlete: Serena Williams

138

Oscar Robertson

88.0

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1960–1974
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Oscar Robertson

141

Shaquille O'Neal

87.9

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1992–2011
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 89.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Shaquille O'Neal

146

Abby Wambach

87.7

Sport: Football
Career: 2001–2015
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 89.0
Dominance: 87.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Abby Wambach

147

Joe Louis

87.7

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1934–1951
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Joe Louis

150

Thomas Hearns

87.7

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1977–2006
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Thomas Hearns

151

Harry Greb

87.7

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1913–1926
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Harry Greb

152

Larry Holmes

87.7

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1973–2002
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Larry Holmes

162

Joe Gans

87.6

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1891–1909
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Joe Gans

163

Sam Jones

87.6

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1957–1969
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 96.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Sam Jones

164

Walt Frazier

87.6

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1967–1980
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Walt Frazier

172

Crystal Dunn

87.5

Sport: Football
Career: 2013–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 91.0
Dominance: 85.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Crystal Dunn

174

Lauren Holiday

87.5

Sport: Football
Career: 2007–2015
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Lauren Holiday

177

Karl Malone

87.4

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1985–2004
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Karl Malone

180

Jason Kidd

87.4

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1994–2013
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Jason Kidd

181

Robert Finke

87.4

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2018–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 95.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Robert Finke

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
3	Michael Phelps	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2000–2016	95.2
10	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1969–1989	93.3
13	Carl Lewis	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1997	93.1
17	Diana Taurasi	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2004–2025	92.3
20	Katie Ledecky	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2012–active	92.0
22	Kristine Lilly	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2010	92.0
26	Mia Hamm	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2004	91.4
31	Wilt Chamberlain	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1959–1973	91.1
40	Bill Russell	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1956–1969	90.6
41	Sugar Ray Robinson	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1940–1965	90.5
42	Carli Lloyd	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2005–2021	90.5
43	Muhammad Ali	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1960–1981	90.3
45	Floyd Mayweather	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2017	90.2
47	Magic Johnson	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1996	90.1
50	Allyson Felix	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	2003–2022	90.0
59	Tiffeny Milbrett	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1991–2006	89.6
60	Joy Fawcett	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2004	89.6
63	Megan Rapinoe	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2006–2023	89.5
66	Sue Bird	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2002–2022	89.4
67	Larry Bird	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1992	89.4
71	Ray Allen	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2014	89.3
72	Julie Foudy	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2004	89.2
80	Michelle Akers	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1985–2000	89.0
81	Teresa Edwards	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1984–2004	89.0
93	Rick Barry	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1965–1980	88.8
102	Tim Duncan	Basketball	🇻🇮 United States	1997–2016	88.7
104	John Havlicek	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1962–1978	88.7
108	Briana Scurry	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1994–2008	88.6
109	Michael Johnson	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1988–2001	88.5
112	Martina Navratilova	Tennis	🇺🇸 United States	1973–1994	88.4
114	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1980–2001	88.4
122	Tobin Heath	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2008–2022	88.4
124	Roy Jones Jr.	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1989–2018	88.3
126	Stephen Curry	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2009–active	88.2
136	Serena Williams	Tennis	🇺🇸 United States	1995–2022	88.0
138	Oscar Robertson	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1960–1974	88.0
141	Shaquille O'Neal	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1992–2011	87.9
146	Abby Wambach	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2001–2015	87.7
147	Joe Louis	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1934–1951	87.7
150	Thomas Hearns	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1977–2006	87.7
151	Harry Greb	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1913–1926	87.7
152	Larry Holmes	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1973–2002	87.7
162	Joe Gans	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1891–1909	87.6
163	Sam Jones	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1957–1969	87.6
164	Walt Frazier	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1967–1980	87.6
172	Crystal Dunn	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2013–active	87.5
174	Lauren Holiday	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2007–2015	87.5
177	Karl Malone	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1985–2004	87.4
180	Jason Kidd	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1994–2013	87.4
181	Robert Finke	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2018–active	87.4

Compare the leaders

Michael Phelps vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Read the full methodology

Sport lists use the raw In-Sport GOAT Score. Cross-sport lists use the official competition-depth adjustment. No scores are recalculated for this page.

Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is this ranking calculated?

Five verified components are weighted consistently: dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Who is included?

According to GOAT Rank's current data model, only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible. Rank and score are read live.

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