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

1193

Otto Graham

81.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1946–1955
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 94.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 96.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Otto Graham

1194

Bruce Matthews

81.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1983–2001
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 98.0

Athlete: Bruce Matthews

1200

Breanna Stewart

80.9

Sport: Basketball
Career: 2016–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 83.0
Statistics: 85.0
Honours: 85.0
Longevity: 72.0

Athlete: Breanna Stewart

1201

Joe Frazier

80.9

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1964–1981
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Joe Frazier

1202

Jack Dempsey

80.9

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1914–1927
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Jack Dempsey

1212

Clyde Lovellette

80.9

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1953–1964
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Clyde Lovellette

1213

Nancy Lieberman

80.9

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1976–1997
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Nancy Lieberman

1218

Angel McCoughtry

80.8

Sport: Basketball
Career: 2009–2022
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Angel McCoughtry

1225

Willie Mays

80.7

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1951–1973
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

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

Athlete: Willie Mays

1228

Klay Thompson

80.7

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

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Klay Thompson

1230

Neil Johnston

80.7

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1951–1959
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 62.0

Athlete: Neil Johnston

1231

Zelmo Beaty

80.7

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1962–1975
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Zelmo Beaty

1239

Dave Bing

80.7

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1966–1978
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Dave Bing

1244

Fred Apostoli

80.7

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1934–1948
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Fred Apostoli

1249

Venus Williams

80.6

Sport: Tennis
Career: 1994–2024
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Venus Williams

1251

Hank Aaron

80.6

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1954–1976
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

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

Athlete: Hank Aaron

1253

Oscar De La Hoya

80.6

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1992–2008
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Oscar De La Hoya

1256

Tony Gonzalez

80.6

Sport: American Football
Career: 1997–2013
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Tony Gonzalez

1258

Mallory Swanson

80.6

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

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Mallory Swanson

1259

Tom Dolan

80.6

Sport: Swimming
Career: 1993–2002
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Tom Dolan

1260

Rebecca Soni

80.6

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2008–2012
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 64.0

Athlete: Rebecca Soni

1261

Lee Evans

80.6

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1966–1972
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Lee Evans

1262

Bernard King

80.6

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1977–1993
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Bernard King

1263

Larry Myricks

80.6

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1976–1992
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Larry Myricks

1264

Bobby Chacon

80.6

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1972–1988
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Bobby Chacon

1265

Darrell Green

80.6

Sport: American Football
Career: 1983–2002
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 98.0

Athlete: Darrell Green

1276

Tony Zale

80.5

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1934–1948
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Tony Zale

1278

Kim Batten

80.5

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1991–2000
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Kim Batten

1280

Paul George

80.5

Sport: Basketball
Career: 2010–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Paul George

1282

Kate Douglass

80.5

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2019–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Kate Douglass

1283

Chase Kalisz

80.5

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

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Chase Kalisz

1285

Michael Carbajal

80.5

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1989–1999
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Michael Carbajal

1286

Donald Curry

80.5

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1980–1997
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Donald Curry

1290

Mel Blount

80.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1970–1983
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Mel Blount

1297

Ben Wallace

80.4

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1996–2012
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Ben Wallace

1300

Deontay Wilder

80.4

Sport: Boxing
Career: 2008–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Deontay Wilder

1301

Vic Seixas

80.4

Sport: Tennis
Career: 1940–1969
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Vic Seixas

1302

James J. Corbett

80.4

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1885–1903
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: James J. Corbett

1303

Mark Aguirre

80.4

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1981–1994
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Mark Aguirre

1308

Joe Choynski

80.4

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1888–1904
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Joe Choynski

1313

Claressa Shields

80.3

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

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Claressa Shields

1314

Anthony Davis

80.3

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

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Anthony Davis

1317

Danny García

80.3

Sport: Boxing
Career: 2007–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Danny García

1322

Tommie Smith

80.3

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1963–1969
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Tommie Smith

1323

Vern Mikkelsen

80.3

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1949–1959
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Vern Mikkelsen

1326

Bailey Howell

80.3

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1959–1971
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Bailey Howell

1327

Max Baer

80.3

Sport: Boxing
Career: 1929–1941
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Max Baer

1328

Gino Marchetti

80.3

Sport: American Football
Career: 1952–1966
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

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

Athlete: Gino Marchetti

1333

Jessica Beard

80.3

Sport: Athletics
Career: 2009–2021
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Jessica Beard

1336

Kawhi Leonard

80.2

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

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Kawhi Leonard

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
1193	Otto Graham	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1946–1955	81.0
1194	Bruce Matthews	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1983–2001	81.0
1200	Breanna Stewart	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2016–active	80.9
1201	Joe Frazier	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1964–1981	80.9
1202	Jack Dempsey	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1914–1927	80.9
1212	Clyde Lovellette	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1953–1964	80.9
1213	Nancy Lieberman	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1976–1997	80.9
1218	Angel McCoughtry	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2009–2022	80.8
1225	Willie Mays	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1951–1973	80.7
1228	Klay Thompson	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2011–active	80.7
1230	Neil Johnston	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1951–1959	80.7
1231	Zelmo Beaty	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1962–1975	80.7
1239	Dave Bing	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1966–1978	80.7
1244	Fred Apostoli	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1934–1948	80.7
1249	Venus Williams	Tennis	🇺🇸 United States	1994–2024	80.6
1251	Hank Aaron	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1954–1976	80.6
1253	Oscar De La Hoya	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1992–2008	80.6
1256	Tony Gonzalez	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1997–2013	80.6
1258	Mallory Swanson	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2015–active	80.6
1259	Tom Dolan	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	1993–2002	80.6
1260	Rebecca Soni	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2008–2012	80.6
1261	Lee Evans	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1966–1972	80.6
1262	Bernard King	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1977–1993	80.6
1263	Larry Myricks	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1976–1992	80.6
1264	Bobby Chacon	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1972–1988	80.6
1265	Darrell Green	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1983–2002	80.6
1276	Tony Zale	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1934–1948	80.5
1278	Kim Batten	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1991–2000	80.5
1280	Paul George	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2010–active	80.5
1282	Kate Douglass	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2019–active	80.5
1283	Chase Kalisz	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2013–active	80.5
1285	Michael Carbajal	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1989–1999	80.5
1286	Donald Curry	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1980–1997	80.5
1290	Mel Blount	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1970–1983	80.5
1297	Ben Wallace	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2012	80.4
1300	Deontay Wilder	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	2008–active	80.4
1301	Vic Seixas	Tennis	🇺🇸 United States	1940–1969	80.4
1302	James J. Corbett	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1885–1903	80.4
1303	Mark Aguirre	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1981–1994	80.4
1308	Joe Choynski	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1888–1904	80.4
1313	Claressa Shields	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	2012–active	80.3
1314	Anthony Davis	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2012–active	80.3
1317	Danny García	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	2007–active	80.3
1322	Tommie Smith	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1963–1969	80.3
1323	Vern Mikkelsen	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1949–1959	80.3
1326	Bailey Howell	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1959–1971	80.3
1327	Max Baer	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1929–1941	80.3
1328	Gino Marchetti	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1952–1966	80.3
1333	Jessica Beard	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	2009–2021	80.3
1336	Kawhi Leonard	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2011–active	80.2

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.

Related rankings

Greatest athletes of all time Greatest female of all time Greatest male of all time Greatest active Athletes Greatest retired Athletes Greatest Boxers of all time Greatest Swimmers of all time Greatest Football Players of all time Greatest Tennis Players of all time Greatest Golfers of all time Greatest Formula 1 Drivers of all time Greatest Esports Players of all time