Athletic Greatness Quotes

I'm a Tom Brady guy to the fullest. I love the way he manages the game, his mindset. He always works with less. He doesn't always have the best receivers, but he's going to make it work.

What drove me to become the world's greatest bodybuilder is no different from what drives other athletes to become great tennis players or boxers or jockeys.

Modric is spectacular, but Messi has no comparison with Luka or anyone.

Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game.

I like to watch the best in every sport, so definitely like Tom Brady or Tiger Woods, his comeback story, or even Usain Bolt. I look up to those guys just because they're great.

I've looked up to Michael Jordan because not only was he an assassin on offense, he was an assassin on defense.

Overall, I think Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete in any particular sport. He dominated the game for the Chicago Bulls and brought the NBA to its greatest peak of popularity.

I'm being called 'Messi with gloves?' I think he's had a great level over many years. You shouldn't compare yourself with that.

God is the Man, and there's another Man, Stan 'The Man' Musial in St. Louis.

I have read that I was a Bill Bradley type. I wish I was a Bradley. He was one of the best. He helped his team win two championships, and that's the ultimate.

To me, that's the brilliance of Michael Jordan. He was an incredible, amazing individual player who matched his talents to the team, matched the team's talents to him, and he lived in the middle of those extremes. I don't know how you do that.

I hate to say it's not a Laker but Michael Jordan. He's been the greatest player I've ever seen. And I'm probably a harsh judge of talent in the sense that I admire players that are really good defensive players and really good offensive players.

If that's the last image of Michael Jordan...how magnificent is it!?

How lucky have we been that the face of baseball for the past two decades, through ups and downs, has been Derek Jeter.

A lot of black guys always ask me, 'Did Larry Bird really play that good?' I said, 'Larry Bird is so good it's frightening.'

I met Tiger Woods, and I looked in his eyes - and I saw Derek Jeter. They don't have to tell people they're good. They just prove it by the way they love the competition.

My relationship with Shinsuke - I mean, he's a tremendous guy, we've maintained our friendship for well over a decade, and he's one of those incredible, rare, once-in-a-lifetime athletes whose ability transcends international border, which is something that's not often able to be done.

I want to set myself as a real legend in the sport, like Phelps and Mark Spitz are remembered worldwide. I want people to say, like they say of Ronaldo that he is the best soccer player in the world, I want them to say Chad Le Clos is the best swimmer in the world.

Who wouldn't want to be compared to a guy like Steph Curry?

I think we always look up to legends and people who not only win but give us a larger than life role model... I think Michael Jordan is this, someone who became bigger than his sport.

I'm a Michael Jordan fan just like everyone else. I just don't think he's the greatest player ever.

Everybody knows that Steph Curry changed the game. He's such a great athlete, but that's all we see on the TV, on the highlights on social media. I wish we could see what type of people they are more, because that's the leadership to me, that's the inspiration to me.

I was a big fan of Maradona growing up and of the current crop Ronaldo is good but Messi is the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t dish out praise lightly but Messi deserves it. I look for weaknesses in his game and I can’t find them.

Messi is the great player of this generation, like there were great players in other generations.

Great players inspire you. The best player I played with was Gervi (Gervinho)