Who Is On Your Mount Rushmore of Current Athletes in Pro Sports?

No doubt one of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball or the biggest star in Major League Baseball is Shohei Ohtani of the LA Angels. He will be on full display tonight just as he was on full display last night. Major League Baseball and these TV networks cannot get enough of showing you this guy his big smile, his Japanese background, his big swing, big arm, etc. Ohtani is the total package. And he's unique and we love unique when we're watching sports...

That's part of the reason why we're as intrigued by the sports that we follow as we are we're watching people do things that we can only dream of. And then to watch somebody at that level that's doing it in a way that even the players that play that sport professionally have to say to themselves “I wish I could be that good”. That’s special. He’s special.

Lucky for us as sports fans, we’ve got a few of those guys/gals in pro sports right now as we speak. So, in thinking about that, I’m going to use the oldest trick in the sports talk radio book and ask this question: Who is on the pro sports Mount Rushmore of Current Athletes?

Does Ohtani crack the list? Has he been doing it long enough? What’s the criteria? Ah, the beauty of subjectivity. The life blood of the business. Here’s my list of 4: (in no particular order)

1. Pat Mahomes- He’s been consistently great since he stepped on the scene. He’s marketable, he’s flashy, he’s dynamic, he’s an MVP, and he’s a champion of his sport. He checks every box that needs to be checked.
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo- MVP 2 of the last 3 seasons and he’s made it to the mountain top of playing in his first NBA Finals. Oh, and by the way, he’s also playing a dominant brand of basketball in those finals. Let’s also give the man credit for doing it on both ends, he’s as good a defender as he is dominant on offense. The Shohei of his sport some might say…
3. Shohei Ohtani- I struggled with this one for a minute just because he hasn’t been doing it that long, but I’m building this mountain now, and I don’t want to be the guy who left him off, when he officially turn into new-age Babe Ruth.
4. Simon Biles- 30 world championships, 4 gold medals, she’s 24 years old, and SHE’S NOT DONE. Incredible.

This list was not easy to cultivate, its littered with recency bias, and if you disagree, you know where to find me: @BrandonKravitz