The 2019 athletes of the year

Giannis joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as only the players in the history of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise to win MVP honors. That came during the 2018-29 season from the Greek superstar, who averaged then-career-highs of 27.7 points and 12.5 rebounds as solidifying himself as one of the NBA's elite players — and making basketball in Milwaukee relevant once again.

Talk about making a great first impression. Alonso's highly anticipated rookie season managed to exceed expectations. Though he could not help the New York Mets reach the postseason, the slugging first baseman set both a club and MLB roookie single-season mark with 53 home runs. That total led the majors, while his 126 RBI in 2019 ranked fourth.

The No. 1 women's tennis player in the world, Barty won her first Grand Slam singles title by beating Marketa Vondrousova to take the French Open. The 23-year-old Australian also won the 2019 WTA Finals Singles title and reached the finals in doubles at the U.S. Open. Barty was named Sportswoman of the Year at the 2019 Australian Women's Health Women in Sport Awards. 

After a stellar 2018, Biles didn't stop in 2019, further solidifying herself as the best gymnast in the world. Need proof? The American superstar win five gold medals (floor exercise, balance beam, vault, all-around, team) at the 2019 world championships, the most by any competitor since 1952. Biles is also the first woman in more than 65 years to win a sixth American all-around title.

One of the more remarkable success stories this year was that of the St. Louis Blues goaltender. Binnington made his 2018-19 season debut on Dec. 16. He made his first start of the season Jan. 7, and from that point went 24-5-1 with a 1.83 goals-against average to help the Blues turn around their season and make the playoffs. In the postseason, Binnington posted a 2.46 goals-against average and made 32 saves in a 4-1 victory over Boston in Game 7 to help St. Louis win its first Stanley Cup.

One-half of the Houston Astros' 20-game win duo, Cole went 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA in 33 starts for the AL pennant winners. Perhaps most impressive, Cole led the majors with a whopping 326 strikeouts. The right-hander was unable to help the Astros win the World Series, but at least his brilliant 2019 season should earn him a nice payday via free agency.

Delle Donne finally got the WNBA title monkey off her back as her Washington Mystics took care of some unfinished business to beat the Connecticut Sun for the 2019 title. In quite the inspiring fashion, Delle Donne, named the league's MVP for the second time, played through back spams during the Finals. On the season, Delle Donne averaged 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds. 

He might not be the No. 1 player in the world at the moment, but that didn't mean Djokovic didn't enjoy a banner 2019 season. He claimed half of the four grand slam titles in '19, winning his record seventh Australian Open and fifth Wimbledon triumph. Djokovic won five tournaments as of early November and currently sits second in the ATP rankings.

If Dressel's performance at the 2019 swimming world championships was any indication, he should be in store for a special 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Dressel, who many believe could be the next Michael Phelps, became the first swimmer to claim eight medals at the worlds. Six of them were gold: in the 50-meter freestyle, 100 free, 50 butterfly, 100 fly, 4x100 free relay and 4x100 mixed free relay. 

Is Fraser-Pryce the fastest woman in the world? Sure seems that way after the Jamaican star won her fourth 100-meter crown at the 2019 world championships in 10.71 seconds. She also helped her country's 4x100 relay team win gold at the same event. With the latter, Fraser-Pryce recorded her ninth career gold medal in world championship competition.

The 2018-19 Wooden Award winner as women's college basketball's top player, Ionescu is the favorite to sweep all the major Player of the Year honors this season after she helped lead Oregon to its first Final Four appearance in 2019. The NCAA women's all-time triple-doubles leader, Ionecsu averaged 19.9 points, 8.2 assists and 7.4 rebounds last season.

Though the Tampa Bay Lightning could not carry over their stellar regular season into the playoffs, Kucherov enjoyed one of the best campaigns in the history of the NHL. The Russian winger led the league in assists (87), points (128) — a club record — and also added to his career season with 41 goals. For his effort, Kucherov won the Art Ross and Hart Trophies, plus the Lindsay Award.

As a true freshman, Lawrence helped guide Clemson to its second national championship in three seasons in 2018. During the College Football Playoff this past January, Lawrence threw for 674 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions while the Tigers rolled by Notre Dame and Alabama. Though he struggled some to open the 2019 season, Lawrence threw nine TDs and no picks in three straight games from Oct. 26 to Nov. 9.

Leonard''s special season (26.6 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game) of 2018-19 helped the Toronto Raptors win their first NBA title and earn himself a nice paycheck from the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard, of course, was at his best when it mattered most, averaging 30.5 points and 9.1 boards during the playoffs.

A name to watch for U.S. track and field fans at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, the 22-year-old Lyles became the first U.S. sprinter since 2007 to win the 200 meters at the world championships when he it did this year. By the way: He was also the youngest ever to win the event and became the first to win the 100 and 200 Diamond Trophies.

Mahomes was the NFL's Most Valuable Player for the 2018 season, and despite dealing with a knee injury this season, Mahomes continues to put up some impressive numbers for the Kansas City Chiefs. Through eight games of the 2019 regular season, Mahomes has thrown for 2,626 yards with 18 touchdowns and just one interception. That's still pretty special.

The two-time Olympic gold medal winner had quite the 2019 season in the pool, specifically at the world championships, where America's Manuel captured a long-course record seven medals at a single event this season in South Korea. Manuel won gold in the 50-meter freestyle and 100 free, plus the same in the 4x100 mixed free relay and 4x100 medley relay. Manuel's time of 52.04 seconds in the 100 at the worlds was a personal best.

Aside from missing the cut at the Open Championship in his home country of Northern Ireland, McIlroy pretty much lived up to his billing in 2019 as one of the elite golfers on the planet . As of early November, he won four times during the '19 calendar year, highlighted by victories at the The Players Championship and Tour Championship, the latter of which won him the FedEx Cup and earned him PGA Tour Player of the Year honors and the Vardon Trophy. McIlroy currently sits second in the World Golf Ranking.

At 32 years old, Messi is still playing at a high level. In September, Messi was named Best FIFA Men's Player for a sixth time. One month later Messi became the first footballer to record a goal in 15 straight Champions League tournaments. Messi has totaled more than 600 club goals (senior level) and does not appear to be slowing down.

The queen of the 400-meter hurdles, Muhammad won the event at the 2019 world championships in a world record time of 52.16 seconds. The 2016 Olympic champion in the event also won gold as part of the U.S. 4x400 relay team at the same world championship event. Muhammad continues to make all of this look easy.

We already touched on Novak Djokovic, so now it is time to talk about his biggest rival. Like Djokovic, Nadal won a pair of Grand Slam events in 2019. In addition to winning the U.S. Open for a fourth time, the world's No. 1 tennis player continued his dominance in Paris with a 12th French Open title — and third in a row.  

Rapinoe seems to make as much news off the pitch as she does on it, but regardless of what soccer fans think of her opinions and politics, she was the star of the Americans' World Cup victory. She scored six goals during the 2019 competition, including the 50th of her international career, to win the Golden Boot. Rapinoe was also crowned The Best FIFA Women's Player of 2019, edging out U.S. teammate Alex Morgan.

While Strasburg set a career high with 18 victories in 2019, it's what he did in the postseason to help the Washington Nationals win their first World Series that won't be forgotten. In six postseason appearances, with five starts, Strasburg went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA while striking out 47 and walking four. His postseason win total tied Randy Johnson and Francisco Rodriguez for the most ever. Strasburg, who threw three scoreless innings during the comeback wild-card win over Milwaukee, was named World Series MVP.

Even bothered by a foot injury that ended his season in mid-September, Trout was still a beast in 2019 for the Los Angeles Angels. After signing his 12-year, $426 million deal to remain an Angel, Trout belted a career-high 45 home runs and added 104 RBI while batting .291 over 134 games. While Trout continues to pad his Hall of Fame resume, getting back to the postseason is still an issue.

Verlander joined teammate Gerrit Cole in the 20-win department this past season, with the veteran right-hander winning an MLB-high 21 games to go against six losses. Verlander also posted a 2.58 ERA while striking out 300 batters for the first time during his tremendous career while topping the 3,000 strikeout mark in the process for the Houston Astros. 

Not since the days of LeBron James coming out of high school was there more hype surrounding who would have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The New Orleans Pelicans earned the right to take the man-child Williamson, who swept the Player of the Year honors after averaging 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists during his one 2018-19 season at Duke. And we didn't mention his work above the rim. Now we're just waiting to see what he can do in the NBA.

The front-runner for NFL MVP, Wilson appears in good shape to improve on 2018 when he threw for a career-high 35 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Heading into Seattle's Nov. 11 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilson has recorded 22 touchdown passes while being intercepted just once. He's also rushed for more than 200 yards through his first eight games of 2019.

Woods' impressive and emotional victory at the Masters in April is enough to earn a spot on this list. It was his first major victory since 2008 and, at the time, we thought he was back and ready to take control of the game. That wasn't the case as Woods failed to make the cut at the PGA Championship and Open Championship. Health remains an issue for Tiger, but he did win October's Zozo Championship in Japan

Though Young's special 2019 season for Ohio State is on hiatus for taking a loan in 2017, what he's done through eight games of his junior, and likely final collegiate, season has been head-turning. Already considered one of the best defensive ends in the game coming into this season, Young has recorded 13.5 sacks this season while throwing his name into the Heisman ring.

The LPGA Player of the Year, Ko won four times on Tour during her special 2019 season. That campaign was highlighted by major victories at the ANA Inspiration in April and The Evian Championship in late July. As of early November, Ko, the 2018 LPGA Rookie of the Year, remained cemented as the No. 1 women's golfer in the world over fellow Korean Sung Hyun Park.