ESPN majorly disrespects Connor McDavid with newest top athlete rankings

ESPN has always had a complicated history with the NHL and its athletes. Today the complicated relationship continues with ESPN's top 100 athletes of the 21st Century. In their ranking, they revealed that Connor McDavid lands at 98th.

Connor McDavid has proven himself to be a generational talent in the NHL over the decade or so that he has been in the league. Despite showing talent and results that rival Wayne Gretzky ESPN has decided to put him behind names like Chris Paul, Bryce Harper, and Kawhi Leonard.

In the case of Chris Paul, he has had a fantastic career in the NBA and is one of the best point guards of his generation. But looking at his accolades the lack of MVP awards, overall records, and championships his resume stacks up less than Connor McDavid who didn't come into the league until 2015.

The case for Bryce Harper over Connor McDavid is one of almost mirror images. Both players were generational talents when drafted and have put up incredible individual accolades. Similarly, they both have been on teams that are fantastic in the regular season but struggle to win the championship. Despite their incredibly similar resumes Bryce Harper sits 20 spots higher than Connor McDavid.

Then there is Kawhi Leonard who is almost the opposite of Connor McDavid. He has the championships and playoff MVPS. However, he has never really been in the conversation for best player in the NBA certainly not as consistently as Connor McDavid. This one has an argument to be made over whether talent or winning matters most in rankings like this.

The only other hockey player to grace the list to this point is Alex Ovechkin at 54. He has many more accolades and years of building up stats over Connor McDavid and is considered the best goal scorer of all time. The lack of respect for Connor McDavid and hockey as a whole has fans furious.

It would be fascinating to see how much Connor McDavid's ranking in this would've changed if he had won the 2024 Stanley Cup. For now, he will have to continue adding to that resume and building his case for when this list is done further down the road.

Source: Sportskeeda
"Egregious mistake"; "ESPN needs to be liquidated": NHL fans bash Connor McDavid's ranking in Top 100 athletes of 21st Century list