The defining athletes of 2024

Assessing a baseball player’s impact in a year is easier than some other sports, given that MLB plays its entire season in a single calendar year. Now, Soto was traded from San Diego to the Yankees in December 2023, so that’s not part of this. What Soto then did was slash .288/.419/.569 with his first 40-homer season. He helped support Aaron Judge, the AL MVP, and helped the Yankees make it into the World Series for the first time since 2009. If that wasn’t enough, he then became a free agent and signed a 15-year, $765-million contract, the biggest in sports history. On the field and off, Soto made a splash.

No, winning Clutch Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season didn’t move the needle a ton. When it comes to the NBA, and the Warriors, Curry did his thing in 2024, though he’s the only one left playing high-level ball from the Golden State glory days. In the summer, though, Curry made his debut with the U.S. Olympic team. Given his age, he’s likely one-and-done on that front. On a team loaded with future Hall of Famers, Curry was the star. In the gold medal game he scored 24 points and drained four threes in the final three minutes, the most-exciting experience watching the 2024 Olympics we had.

We love hockey, but McDavid is the only hockey player to make this list. If health allows, Alex Ovechkin will be on next year’s list when he breaks Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. Nathan MacKinnon and Connor Hellebuyck were amazing in 2024, but if you aren’t a big hockey fan, they probably didn’t define anything for you. McDavid has transcended, though. He’s the best player of his generation and en route to being an inner-circle Hall of Famer. McDavid has been excellent to start the 2024-25 season, and he entered rarified air with 100 assists in the 2023-24 season. This is about the playoffs, though. McDavid helped take the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals and pushed the Panthers to seven games by tallying 42 points in 25 games. He became the second forward for a losing team to win the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP.

Hunter was talked about more than any college football player. Some of that, okay a lot of that, is the Deion Sanders effect. To a degree, the media talked itself into giving Hunter the Heisman trophy. The Buffaloes player did remarkably play receiver and cornerback quite well, and that novelty also seemed to mesmerize people. We’d have given Ashton Jeanty the Heisman, but when it comes to being the face of college football in 2024, Hunter wins.

The 2024 Olympics were the (presumed) swan song for arguably the best female gymnast who ever lived. Biles became only the fourth female gymnast to compete at three Olympics for the United States. She was not merely there as a figurehead, either. Biles won three golds (one for the team event and two individual) and a silver. That leaves her with 11 Olympic medals, tied for second among female gymnasts.

Ohtani couldn’t pitch in 2024. The offseason was dominated by a strange story about his former interpreter stealing money from him to pay gambling debts. Would the move from the Angels to the Dodgers prove more tumultuous than triumphant? Yeah, no. Ohtani posted the first-ever 50/50 season in MLB history, was unanimously named NL MVP as a full-time DH, and then won a World Series. Oh, and in 2025 he’ll be able to pitch again.

Clark drove the conversation in women’s basketball. Often in strange, disconcerting ways. She seemed to inadvertently stumble into being at the center of a personality cult. On the court, though, she was named the best women’s college basketball player once again, was the first-overall pick of the Indiana Fever, and then won Rookie of the Year. All hot takes aside, she wasn’t all hype. Clark delivered the goods.

People in 2024 loved to talk about nepotism, and so it is apt to have Bronny on this list. He got a ton of media attention because he is LeBron James’ son. The best basketball player of all-time shined a spotlight on his eldest son who was…okay as a player. Bronny spent one season at USC and if his father was somebody else would have stayed there. Instead, he went pro, the Lakers drafted him (one safely assumes to appease his father) and Bronny even got to start the season on an NBA roster so his dad could play alongside him. Then, reasonably, he was sent down to the G League. Someday Bronny could be a legit rotation player in the NBA. Right now, he’s the manifestation of LeBron’s power with the Lakers.

This past summer’s Euro 2024 was a fun soccer tournament. Spain ended up winning it all, and Yamal was the center of attention for the winning team. He scored a goal against France and then registered an assist in the finals against England. Oh, also during the tournament he turned 17. Unsurprisingly, Yamal was named the Young Player of the Tournament. A future superstar was born.

Rafael Nadal said goodbye in 2024, joining Roger Federer in retirement. Novak Djokovic is still going, but men’s tennis has a new driving force. Alcaraz turned 21 in 2024, and he also won the French Open and Wimbledon. That’s clay and grass! He also played in the final at the Olympics, though he lost to Djokovic. It’s a lot more fun to focus on the next big thing in a sport than the last big thing, though, and also Alcaraz doesn’t have the baggage that Djokovic carries.

In women’s soccer, the Summer Olympics carries almost as much weight as the World Cup. The United States won gold, with Swanson leading the way with four goals, second-most in the tournament. Crucially, that includes the only goal in the U.S.’s 1-0 win over Brazil for the gold.

Since the heyday of Tiger Woods, golf has lacked a true crossover figure. The bifurcation between the PGA and LIV has also complicated factors. Scheffler, though, managed to make a splash. He led the PGA with seven wins, topped the money list, and won two majors. Scheffler was the player of the year, and while he’s no Tiger, he’s at the forefront of the golf landscape currently.

England fell in the Euro 2024 final to Yamal and Spain, but Foden’s 2024 was as good as anybody’s. Yes, there was his role with England, but he also was arguably the best player for Manchester City as it won the 2023-24 Premier League title. Both the writers and players in England named Foden the best player of the season, and doing that in the best soccer league in the world is significant.

Hot take: The backwards hurdle is overrated. That being said, Barkley was all over the NFL landscape in 2024. He left the Giants for the Eagles, and those are two teams from two sports-crazy cities. Then, Barkley played so well that he got into the “Can a running back win MVP?” space. Ultimately, our best guess is “no,” but Barkley will likely win Offensive Player of the Year for the 2024 season.

The defining athletes of 2024 are not all success stories. If we’re being frank, every single moment of breaking (or breakdancing) at the 2024 Olympics was sweatily uncomfortable and unpleasant. Nobody encompassed the awkward circumstances of breaking’s first Olympics more than Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun. She is perhaps the face of the 2024 Olympics, but mostly because her breaking routine generated so much ardor and backlash. Being a great breakdancer is impressive, but breakdancing does not belong at the Olympics. Gunn’s viral moment speaks to the clunky endeavor’s overall failing.

It’s always fun when a hyped prospect delivers the goods. When they do it for a franchise that hasn’t had a lot to get excited about for a while, even better. Skenes was the first-overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he debuted the following May. From day one the most-vaunted pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg was pumping out 100-mph fastballs and racking up strikeouts. He ended up making 23 starts and posted an 1.96 ERA and 11.5 K/9 rate. Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year with ease, but also finished third in the Cy Young voting.

There were two elements to the Edey Experience in 2024 that lends himself to making the list. On the court at Purdue he was the best player in college basketball. The giant Canadian was the scoring champ and named national player of the year for the second season in a row. Edey even led the Boilermakers to the finals of March Madness. Of course, others couldn’t help but look forward, and many did it with robust skepticism. Edey could never make it in the NBA. He wasn’t athletic enough. He wasn’t fast enough. He’ll be a bust for sure. The Memphis Grizzlies didn’t sweat it, though, drafting Edey ninth overall. While an injury kept him off the court for a while, he’s held his own and not earned any valid “bust” whispers.

Three years out of four, swimming doesn’t make a blip on the sporting radar. Then, the Summer Olympics roll around. Marchand was taking to the pool in his native France. All of 22, there’s a reason why he’s being called “the next Michael Phelps.” In Paris, Marchand won four golds and a bronze, and that bronze came in the medley relay, so you can’t blame Marchand for that one. He broke multiple Olympic records in the process, setting him on the pace to legitimately threaten Phelps, or at least Mark Spitz, in the Olympic pool.

Ledecky came into the Paris Olympics in a different space than Marchand. At 27, it is very much possible this was her last Olympics, though she got four in so it’s not like she got short shrift. What Ledecky was doing in Paris was ensuring her legacy as the greatest female American swimmer of all-time, and perhaps the greatest female swimmer full stop. She won four more medals, including two more golds. Her 14 career medals is the most for an American woman, and nine of those are golds.

At this point, the only question with Jokic is where in the pantheon does he belong? Is he the best center of all-time? Don’t scoff at that idea! He won his third MVP in the 2023-24 season, and he’s been even better to start the 2024-25 season. Voters will legitimately have to consider whether or not Jokic gets added to the four-timers club. The list of NBA players with four MVPs or more? LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

When Goff was included in the deal that landed Matthew Stafford with the Rams, who would have thought his name would become a favorite chant among Detroit sports fans? In 2024, the Lions returned to the playoffs, hosted a playoff game, and won a playoff game. The latter is something the franchise had not done in over 30 years. “Jared Goff” was not just chanted at Lions games, but Wings games, Pistons games, you name it. The 2024 season has seen Goff get another chant. Not his name, but “MVP! MVP!” Wishful thinking from Lions fans, but not absurd.

Rodri had some great moments in 2024. He and Man City won another title. He played for Spain as it won Euro 2024. Rodri won the Ballon d’Or as the best soccer player in the world. Alas, he also tore his knee up and saw that derail the Man City dynasty. Without the best midfielder in the world, City started to scuffle and fell out of the title race. That proved to be the power of Rodri.

Winning multiple MVPs is impressive enough as is. When Wilson took home the WNBA MVP in 2024, she did so for the third time. However, the Aces star did not merely take home an MVP. Wilson became the second-ever unanimous WNBA MVP. Everybody agreed in 2024: Nobody in the WNBA was better than Wilson.

Winning back-to-back MVPs in the NFL is hard, but Jackson is giving it a shot. He took home the trophy for the 2023 season in 2024, and then he’s spent the 2024 season making his case to win it again. Much like how voters may look elsewhere when it comes to Jokic in spite of his excellent play, some feel that Buffalo’s Josh Allen is “due” for his MVP. Then again, maybe Jackson will surprise us, and he’s definitely been a defining figure in sports in 2024.

When you think about the Boston Celtics winning the NBA title, what is the lasting image? Jayson Tatum, the team’s best player? Kristaps Porzingis, who gutted out an injury to take the court during the NBA Finals? For us, it’s Horford. It’s the longtime NBA veteran, the journeyman who has been an all-star but who had never quite taken home a title. We see not just Al, but his father Tito, ever-present at Celtics games. A beloved NBA player finally got his ring. We all finally got to see him celebrate a title. Horford is the face of that Celtics title. He’s the image we will remember a decade from now.