Top multi-sport athlete of all-time

But it does say "greatest multi-sport athlete ever" ... if we're talking about high school only, I'd likely agree since he's the only one to be All-American in 3 major sports.

His overall accomplishments (high school, college, pro) aren't on par with Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, Jim Thorpe, Gene Conley...

 

The guy that made the video thinks he's the best, that's his opinion. We already went through Sanders and Bo Jackson, they excelled in two sports really well for a short stint, Deion really well in one sport. If you look at the whole package from high school right to the last day they were Pro, I could see Ainge being in the conversation.

 

He - and you - are entitled to your opinions.

If you’re going to say Sanders’ was “for a short stint,” then you’ll have to say Ainge’s was even shorter. He played just two sports in college (Sanders played 4), and Ainge played just 3 seasons of pro baseball (Deion was 9).

 

Sanders was involved in track and field in college, I didn't see anywhere that he played college basketball. Sanders had a more successful Pro career than Ainge, I watched more of Sanders than Ainge. I hardly remember watching Ainge play basketball. I just stumbled on the video and learned about the three sports where he was all-american. The 15 year basketball career was impressive too.

 

Sanders baseball career wasn’t a short stint.

He had 2100 plate appearances across 9 seasons.

 

Had anyone mentioned Otto?

 

Otto Matic...?

 

I see here 6 seasons, one year off, then another full season in '97, so basically 1990 to 97. That's not a short stint, but not a long career either.
1989 21 NYY AL 14 50 47 7 11 2 0 2 7 1 0 3 8 .234 .280 .404 .684 92 19 0 0 0 0 1 8/7
1990 22 NYY AL 57 149 133 24 21 2 2 3 9 8 2 13 27 .158 .236 .271 .507 42 36 2 1 1 1 0 78/D
1991 23 ATL NL 54 122 110 16 21 1 2 4 13 11 3 12 23 .191 .270 .345 .616 68 38 1 0 0 0 0 7/89
1992 24 ATL NL 97 325 303 54 92 6 14 8 28 26 9 18 52 .304 .346 .495 .841 130 150 5 2 1 1 0 87/9
1993 25 ATL NL 95 294 272 42 75 18 6 6 28 19 7 16 42 .276 .321 .452 .773 105 123 3 3 1 2 3 8/7
1994 26 TOT NL 92 414 375 58 106 17 4 4 28 38 16 32 63 .283 .342 .381 .724 89 143 5 3 2 2 1 *8
1994 26 ATL NL 46 211 191 32 55 10 0 4 21 19 7 16 28 .288 .343 .403 .746 93 77 4 1 1 2 1 8
1994 26 CIN NL 46 203 184 26 51 7 4 0 7 19 9 16 35 .277 .342 .359 .700 84 66 1 2 1 0 0 8
1995 27 TOT NL 85 379 343 48 92 11 8 6 28 24 9 27 60 .268 .327 .399 .727 94 137 1 4 3 2 0 8
1995 27 CIN NL 33 144 129 19 31 2 3 1 10 16 3 9 18 .240 .296 .326 .621 65 42 0 2 2 2 0 8
1995 27 SFG NL 52 235 214 29 61 9 5 5 18 8 6 18 42 .285 .346 .444 .790 112 95 1 2 1 0 0 8
1996

Did not play in major or minor leagues (Pro Football)
1997 29 CIN NL 115 509 465 53 127 13 7 5 23 56 13 34 67 .273 .329 .363 .693 80 169 4 6 2 2 2 *87
1998

Did not play in major or minor leagues (Pro Football)
1999

Did not play in major or minor leagues (Pro Football)
2001 33 C

 

My error - Sanders was an all-state high school basketball player but dropped hoops in college.

 

In baseball Deion played 1989-1995 (7 seasons), 1997, then 2001. That's 9.

Not sure why you're trying to down-play this - that's still significantly longer than Ainge played baseball.

 

Not downplaying it, his first and last year was insignificant, I'm just saying that he had a short career based on the average that a good player would have.

 

There's the difference between him and Ainge, where one was all-american in all three sports. True, later on Sanders went on to have a more successful pro career in two sports than Ainge did, but a 15 year NBA career with two championships is an achievement.

 

LOL! And Ainge's was less than HALF of that! Ainge never sniffed .250; Deion's career average is 20 points higher.

C'mon, Skinny.

 

Not saying it isn't an achievement - Ainge just wasn't the athlete that Sanders was.

Deion is in the College Football Hall of Fame ... was a starting outfielder for an FSU team that ranked 5th in the nations .. and ran track on a team that won the conference championship. Can Ainge match those three COLLEGE accomplishments?

 

Again, I'm not comparing Deions second pro sport career with Ainge.
Ainge was the national basketball player of the year at the same time as he was on the Jays.

 

The average baseball career is like 5.5 years. 1 in 5 players only has about a year of service.

So by that standard Sanders has a longer career than most.

 

Come on, the player of the year in college basketball while juggling a career in MLB.

 

the thing skinny is trying to say is Ainge is the only 3x HS All-American in 3 different sports. He played minor league and pro baseball for a stint as well. Then he went on to win NCAA Player of the year in Basketball and then 2 NBA Championships, and a third as a GM. Pretty incredible career. His HS career alone is stuff of legend. But being an All-American is raking up stats and being nominated to a team of other athletes. I't's an awesome achievement. My HS buddy was on the 3rd team All-American in soccer. Winning state titles or college titles is a much tougher achievement as you have to beat a lot of teams to do it. Magic Johnson won a state title, a college title, Olympic Gold Medals and 5 NBA Titles, including 1 as a rookie taking over for Kareem at Center. Much tougher achievement. Bo Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and MVP of the MLB All-Star Game! Deion was a 3x HS All-State player and played 3 sports in college. He played in both the Super Bowl and World Series-only person to do that. The list goes on and on.

Great debate guys.

 

really bww? that low? i know NFL RB's career span is like 4 yrs. I thought MLB's careers were a bit longer. Interesting.