The athletes who defined 2018

Alvarez's year got off to slow start, with both a positive PED test and knee surgery pushing a much-hyped rematch with Gennady Golovkin from the spring into the fall. However, when the two finally stepped into the ring, it was Alvarez who emerged on top in a tightly-contested contest. Canelo was crowned the lineal middleweight champion of the world after what was the fourth-highest grossing fight in Las Vegas history. To top the year off, Alvarez signed a record five-year, $365 million deal with the DAZN streaming fight app to showcase his next 11 bouts.

The Greek Freak is the breakout NBA star of 2018, as he's seemingly able to do the unthinkable night in and night out. In the first half of 2018, he averaged 26.9 points per game and nearly got the Milwaukee Bucks out of the first round for the time in 17 years, pushing the Boston Celtics to a full seven games. As an encore, Antetokounmpo has continued to put on awe-inspiring performances, becoming the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 to post four-consecutive 25 point, 15 rebound games to start a season. Not bad company for a newly minted 24-year-old.

It could be argued the no player in baseball history got more out of a season than Betts did in 2018. With his incomparable all-around play, Betts became the first player in MLB history to win the World Series alongside a batting title, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award, in addition to AL MVP. And to top it all off, he became a father for the first time days after capturing his first championship. Is it even possible to have an encore to a year like that? 

At 21, Biles' penchant for making history has become a habit. She returned from a year-long hiatus to win the World Championships in Qatar, winning a record 25^th medal in World Competition and becoming the first female competitor ever to complete the legendary Cheng vault in competition. In the process of claiming her record-setting fourth all-around world and fifth United States all-around championship, Biles also staked her place in the conversation as greatest gymnast of all time.

The future Hall of Famer Bird continues to push herself to greater heights on the court. Bird claimed her third WNBA title by leading the Seattle Storm to a sweep over the Washington Mystics, following an intense five-game series with the Phoenix Mercury. During the year, the 38-year-old point guard set new league records for games played and personal highs for assists, field-goal and three-point percentage while becoming the Storm’s all-time leading scorer. To cap off the year, Bird was named basketball operations associate for the Denver Nuggets.

The winningest cross-country skier of all time capped her career in a resounding fashion, claiming five medals at the Pyeongchang Olympic Games. It marked the second time Bjørgen won five medals in the Olympics and ran her total medal count to 15, the most of any competitor in Winter Olympics history — male or female. With her retirement following the 2017-18 season, the Nordic skier finished her career with a total of 41 international medals, 26 of which being gold.

Age seems truly to just be a number for Brady, who at 40 became the oldest MVP in NFL history and to reach the Super Bowl for the second time in as many years. Although his New England Patriots fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII, Brady set a record with 505 passing yards to go along with three touchdowns. Early in the 2018 season, Brady became the third player ever to throw 500 touchdowns, and in Week 12 he passed Peyton Manning for the most total passing yards of all time between regular-season and playoff games.

No quarterback in NFL history has led an aerial assault throughout his career more fervently than Brees, who finally reached the summit of the NFL all-time passing list in 2018. Brees passed Peyton Manning’s career mark of 71,940 yards on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins, on a 62-yard touchdown pass. It was the third record-setting mark of the year for Brees, who had made it to the top of the list for the most 400-yard passing games (16) and career completions (6,512) earlier in the year.

After suffering the first loss of his MMA career the year prior, to Jon Jones, Cormier rallied with a dominant run throughout 2018. Already the UFC’s reigning light heavyweight champion, Cormier added more gold to his waist when he surprisingly knocked out then-heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic, to join Conor McGregor as the only dual-division champions in UFC history. After defending the heavyweight championship against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230, Cormier became the only fighter in the promotion’s history to successfully defend both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.

Despite being saddled with a less-than thrilling New York Mets team, deGrom showed a historically undeniable ability to make the most out of the very least. The Mets ace won the National League’s Cy Young Award despite winning just 10 games on the year — the fewest in the history of the award. But deGrom worked to a 1.70 ERA despite receiving just over three runs of support per start. However, had deGrom gotten as little as four runs per start, he would have won 15 more games and pulled the Mets into the playoffs. Sometimes inches become miles.

Djokovic returned to the top of the men’s world rankings in 2018, going 53-12 on the year and picking up wins at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. This included 15 wins over opponents ranked in the top 10 at the time of their matches, highlighted by a 3-1 mark against longtime rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic finished the year over 1,000 points ahead of the No. 2 ranked Nadal and became the first player in history to win all nine of the ATP’s Golden Masters series with a victory over Federer at the Cincinnati Masters.

Durant claimed his second NBA Finals victory in as many years with the Golden State Warriors, via a four-game sweep over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the process, Durant doubled down on his reputation as one of the game’s great finishers. He scored 34 points in a Game 7 victory over the top-seeded Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, before averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the NBA Finals. As a result, he claimed his second Finals MVP in as many years, averaging 32 points per game in Finals play over the past two seasons.

Federer spent the year reminding the masses that even at 37, he is far from a nostalgia act. At the Australian Open, he advanced to the finals without dropping a set before defeating Marin Čilić in five sets to claim a record-tying sixth title. It also marked his 20^th career Grand Slam title, the most by a men’s competitor in history. In February, Federer regained the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings, becoming the oldest competitor in history to do so by more than three years. Federer picked up 48 wins on the year and set a new personal best with a 17-0 undefeated start to the year.

The 27-year-old Romanian did not spend a day not being the top-ranked woman in the world in 2018. Halep went 46-8 on the year and reached the finals of both the Australian and French Opens, picking up the victory at Roland Garros. Although she experienced some low points at the beginning and end of the year, Halep earned $7 million on the year and won three tournaments.

Hamilton’s excellence on the Formula One circuit continued in 2018, as he defended his 2017 World Championship, his fifth overall. His 2018 championship gave Hamilton the victory in the showdown billed as "The Fight for Five" between Sebastian Vettel and himself. Hamilton decisively picked up the victory, finishing the season with 11 victories, 11 pole positions and a record-tying 17 podium finishes. His 408 points on the year set a new Formula One record and made him the first driver ever to top 3,000 points.

The Bearded One put on a tour de force of a performance in a year that capped with him being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the first time. Harden led the NBA with 30.4 points per game while helping the Rockets to a league-best 65-17 record, making it the first time in franchise history Houston owned the league’s best record. Harden topped 50 points three times on the year, including the only 60-point triple-double in NBA history when he scored 60 points with 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the Orlando Magic.

As usual, the NBA calendar revolved around the orbit of King James. During what would become his final season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James reached the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive year, averaging 34 points during the four-game loss. James again shook up the world when he signed a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. In November, James moved past Wilt Chamberlain into fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Away from the court, James made major steps in the media content production world, with programming on HBO, Showtime and via his Uninterrupted brand.

Koepka’s fourth year on the PGA Tour saw him become World No. 1 in rankings, behind a series of significant — and rare — victories. Koepka became the first golfer since Curtis Strange in 1989 to defend as U.S. Open champion. Later in the year, he picked up his third major victory in the last two years when he won the PGA Championship in a tight competition over Tiger Woods. Koepka shot a major record 264 during the tournament, lowest score over 72 holes in major tournament history. Koepka enters 2019 having finished in the top 10 of four of the last six majors he has entered.

The sensation of the new year in the NFL has undoubtedly been Mahomes, who has gone from rookie backup to MVP candidate in less than a year. After starting the final game of the 2017 season, Mahomes inherited the starting job for the Kansas City Chiefs in full after the team traded Alex Smith during the offseason. Mahomes made good on the show of faith immediately, throwing four touchdowns in Week 1 and setting eight NFL records through Week 13, including becoming the first player to ever throw for 3,000 yards in his first 10 games and repeatedly reestablishing records for most touchdowns thrown to start a career.

The hype that has followed the French teenager has been akin to the buzz that surrounded LeBron James a decade-and-a-half ago. In his first year after becoming the most expensive teenage acquisition in his move to Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappé became the youngest player in Champions League history to score 10 goals. In October, he scored four goals in 13 minutes of a 5-0 victory, becoming the youngest player to score as many goals in the last 45 years of Ligue 1 play. Over the summer, he became the second youngest player behind Pele to score in World Cup play, helping France to a World Cup title.

The on-ice wizardry of McDavid continues to bear jaw-dropping returns. The Edmonton Oilers speedster opened the 2017-18 season with a hat trick and celebrated his 21 ^st birthday by posting his 200^th career point. McDavid posted three hat tricks on the year, including his first four-goal game in February. He led the NHL in points for the second consecutive year, picking up his second Art Ross Trophy alongside a second Ted Lindsay Trophy as well. He played in all 82 games for a second straight season.

Messi remained one of the world’s top goal scorers, posting 34 goals for FC Barcelona in the 2017-18 season and earning a fifth career Golden Shoe Award. It was the ninth time he topped 25 goals in La Liga play and extended a streak that is approaching a decade of topping the quarter-century mark in finding the back of the net. Between taking care of business himself, he also tied for the club lead in assists with 12. If that wasn’t enough, how about this for an encore: Through 11 appearances in the 2018-19 season, Messi already has nine goals, with five coming in Champions League play.

The personality of Conor McGregor cast a significant shadow over Khabib entering their much-hyped bout at UFC 229. But by the end of the match, the UFC Lightweight Champion still had his belt and had affirmed himself both as the best fighter in the world and a man who greatly believed in revenge. The personal undertones of the brawl that followed the fight overcast a dominant showing by Nurmagomedov, where he unapologetically dismantled McGregor. But in the end, "The Eagle" had run his record to 27-0 following his submission victory and currently owns the highest win percentage in UFC history.

It seemed as if a true two-way performer in Major League Baseball was an impossible task — until Shohei Ohtani arrived in 2018. Ohtani starred on both the mound and at the plate for the Los Angeles Angels, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award in dazzling fashion. Ohtani became the first player since Babe Ruth in 1919 to hit at least 15 home runs and pitch 50 innings. And Ohtani did both jobs well, hitting 22 home runs with 61 RBI and 10 stolen bases and working to a 4-2 record and 3.31 ERA while averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings with his high-90s fastball.

Ovi had his standard fare brilliant season, reaching his 600^th career goal in March and winning his seventh "Rocket" Richard Trophy for leading the NHL in goals, which he did with 49. But nothing topped lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career and in Capitals history while also winning the Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP. And the summer-long party he commenced on — along with Lord Stanley’s Cup — was one of legend.

Although he wore three different jerseys over the course of the year, Ronaldo’s staggering production stayed the same regardless of location. He started the year by leading Real Madrid to a record fifth and third consecutive Champions League title in a year where he also won a fifth Ballon d’Or. Over the summer he became the oldest player to pull off a hat trick in a World Cup match, for Portugal. He wrapped the year by debuting with Juventus following a record transfer fee, shortly thereafter becoming the first player to win in 100 Champions League matches.

Tagovailoa made his presence known in the national spotlight when he substituted for incumbent quarterback Jalen Hurts in the CFP National Championship Game. The then true freshman signal-caller threw a 41-yard, game-winning touchdown pass in overtime to win the national championship for the Crimson Tide. Tagovailoa kept a grip on the position in the fall, becoming a Heisman Trophy candidate in the process and leading the Crimson Tide back to the CFP Playoffs after an undefeated regular season.

Trout was again brilliant in 2018, making the AL All-Star team for a seventh straight year and topping a nine WAR level for the fifth time in his seven-year career. His 64.3 WAR has already passed a number of Hall of Famers' career totals and is producing at a pace that is equal to that of Ty Cobb. To top it all off, even in finishing second in MVP voting, Trout made history, as he tied Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Albert Pujols for most runner-up finishes in history — something none of the existing trio did before turning 30, which Trout does in 2021.

Williamson has been the most must-see college basketball attraction since Michigan’s Fab Five, and perhaps even longer than that. Alongside R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish, Williamson gives the 2018-19 Blue Devils the top three recruits in the country together on a nightly basis for the first time in history. But what the 6-foot-8, 285-pound Williamson does every time he is on the floor has instantly made him a SportsCenter mainstay. Between streaking down the court with a speed that belies his bulky frame, the gravity-defying dunks and rim-shattering power, Williamson provides something unlike anything the basketball world has seen before.

The return of Tiger Woods to the competitive picture on the PGA Tour shot into the sport a jolt of life that has been starkly absent since his decline half a decade ago. However, Woods roared back to life in pursuit of a PGA Championship victory that he narrowly missed on the final few holes. But a moment that had eluded him since August 2013 finally happened when Woods finished at 11 under to win The Tour Championship. The moment of the year in sports arguably commenced down the stretch, as the entire gallery followed Woods toward the clinching hole. He enters 2019 as the 13th ranked golfer in the world.