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LeBron James is now a 40-year-old man, making more history just by getting a year older.
The all-time great will become the first player in NBA history to have ever played a game both as a teenager and as a 40-year-old the next time he takes the court. He’s still going strong in his 22nd season, too, averaging 23.5 points and nine assists per game as of his birthday on Dec. 30.
As if that weren’t impressive enough, James has also exceeded the hype following him around since he entered the NBA in 2003, playing at an All-Star level essentially since he entered the league. But there are other stars who’ve also lived up to the tremendous weight put on their shoulders before they became professionals. Just in the last 14 months, Victor Wembanyama, Paul Skenes and Caitlin Clark have started to meet the sky-high expectations that have been placed on them.
Those three still have a lot of their respective careers to play out, though. So, let’s take a look at James and nine other 21st century professional athletes who’ve made good on, or even surpassed, the expectations surrounding them.
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Before entering the WNBA, Parker’s high school accolades included being named the 2003 and 2004 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year, the only two-time award winner of the USA Today High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American. The dunking forward-center then attended Tennessee from 2004-2008. She led the Lady Vols to two consecutive national championships in 2007 and 2008 while also being named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in both.
Parker was taken with the first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, and broke the WNBA record for points by a rookie in her debut game, knocking down 34 points and adding 12 rebounds and eight assists. Parker was the first WNBA player to be named Rookie of the Year and win the MVP award in the same season, and the seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA MVP hoisted the championship trophy three times in her career with the LA Sparks (2016), Chicago Sky (2021) and Las Vegas Aces (2023).
Harper might be the closest thing to baseball’s equivalent to James this century, at least in terms of hype. In fact, Sports Illustrated gave Harper similar treatment that it gave James when he was in high school, putting Harper on the cover of an issue with the “Chosen One” text.
While Harper might not be in the GOAT conversation in his sport like James is, he’s been among the handful of top players in MLB since he made his debut in 2012. Two years after the Nationals selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Harper won NL Rookie of the Year and turned into one of the game’s biggest sensations. At 19 years old, he became the youngest position player to ever be named to an All-Star roster. Three years later, he won his first MVP.
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Harper remained one of the major league’s best hitters throughout his time with the Nationals before leaving ahead of the 2019 season. He then signed the largest contract in MLB history at the time to join the Phillies. He went on to win his second MVP in 2021 and has helped Philadelphia make the postseason in three straight years.
Messi began his career as a member of Newell’s Old Boys youth team, scoring nearly 500 goals with the club before joining Barcelona’s youth team at 13 in 2000. He impressed the professionals he practiced against, totaling 36 goals in 30 games during the 2002-03 season.
Messi was called up to Barcelona’s top squad in 2004 and quickly asserted himself as the best player in the club’s history. He scored a record 474 goals in 520 caps with Barcelona before adding another 43 goals in 83 caps between PSG and Inter Miami over the last two years.
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Of course, Messi has also had a remarkable international career, too. He reached the mountaintop when he led Argentina to a World Cup title in 2022, which was sandwiched between two Copa America wins. He’s won the Ballon d’Or eight times as he’s scored 850 goals between club and country, further displaying his all-time excellence.
Moore gained notoriety as a savvy power forward at the University of Connecticut from 2007-2011, where she led the Huskies to back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010. Before her reign at Storrs, Moore led her high school team to four straight Georgia state championship appearances, including three wins. The dual-sport athlete (track and field) was named to the 2006 Sports Illustrated All-America Team and also won the McDonald’s All-America Player of the Year in 2007.
Moore went on to score 678 points in her debut season with the Huskies, which is the most by a freshman in UConn history. The 10-time Big East Freshman of the Week went on to earn Big East Player of the Year honors three times (2008, 2009, 2011), Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player twice (2009, 2011) and also guided Connecticut to its second straight 39-0 season in 2010.
In 2011, Moore was drafted first overall by the Minnesota Lynx, and earned the Rookie of the Year award on the way to her first WNBA title. The six-time All-Star went on to win three more championships (2013, 2015, 2017) and was also named the WNBA MVP in 2014.
Historically, the highest-regarded quarterbacks haven’t fared too well in the 21st century. Andrew Luck’s career was cut short due to injury, while Trevor Lawrence and Caleb Williams are still in the early years of their respective careers. Additionally, many of the best quarterbacks drafted since 2000 haven’t had a great deal of buildup surrounding them, either.
However, Peterson garnered a lot of attention before the running back entered the NFL. He finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a freshman in 2004, leading Oklahoma to the national title game that same year. After he continued to excel in Norman for the next two seasons, the Vikings took Peterson with the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
That decision wound up being one of the smartest in Vikings history. Peterson had a wildly productive rookie season, rushing for a record 296 yards in one game as he went on to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Five years later, he rushed for 2,097 yards, finishing just 9 yards short of breaking the single-season record. That performance, which came after he had torn his ACL late in the previous season, helped him win 2012 MVP honors, making him the last non-quarterback to win the award.
Peterson was also the third-fastest player to rush for 10,000 yards in NFL history. His 14,918 rushing yards are also the fifth-most in NFL history as he led the league in rushing three times and was named a Pro Bowler on seven occasions.
“Sid the Kid” became a prodigy in Canada when he was literally just a kid. In his minor hockey years as a young teenager, Crosby appeared on “Hockey Day in Canada” before he dominated the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to the point that it retired his No. 87 in 2019.
After a dominant junior career, Crosby was drafted with the No. 1 pick by the Penguins in 2005. He helped Pittsburgh reach the postseason just two years into his career and led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Final a year later. He won his first of three Stanley Cups in 2009, while adding two MVP wins over his career.
Internationally, Crosby scored one of the most memorable hockey goals ever when he netted the game-winner for Canada in the gold medal match against the USA in the 2010 Olympics. He won his second Olympic gold in 2014.
Hailing from Syracuse, the 6-foot-4 power forward returned to her New York roots in 2023, and with it added another WNBA championship trophy under her belt with the New York Liberty. The two-WNBA MVP was selected by the Seattle Storm with the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, after a dynamic career at UConn (2012-2016) during which she collected four consecutive NCAA championship titles and four NCAA Tournament MOP awards.
Ahead of her college years, “Stewie” was a must-watch high school player, earning the 2012 Gatorade Player of the Year and Naismith Prep Player of the Year in her senior year, while also being named to the McDonald’s All-American team. The three-time USA Basketball Player of the Year has also won three WNBA championships (2018, 2020, 2024), two Commissioner’s Cup championships and an Olympics MVP award (2021).
You know you’re a special player when you’re nicknamed “McJesus” well before playing your first professional game. McDavid was the most decorated player in the history of the Ontario Hockey League, winning five individual awards as he was just the third player in the league’s history to be granted eligibility before turning 16.
While McDavid tore up the OHL, there was great anticipation over who’d land him in the 2015 NHL Draft. The Oilers won the lottery that year and took McDavid, which changed the course of their franchise. They’ve been a playoff mainstay since the 2019-20 season, and McDavid has won the Art Ross Trophy for the most points in the league five times and MVP on three occasions.
McDavid nearly led the Oilers to a title in 2024, when they lost the Stanley Cup Final in seven games to the Panthers. As the Oilers came back from a 3-0 deficit to force a Game 7, McDavid became the sixth player on the losing team to ever win the Conn Smythe Award.
Ohtani was a two-way sensation in Japan for several years before joining the Angels in 2018, winning Pacific League MVP in his penultimate season in the NPB.
At 23, Ohtani’s salary was maxed out due to international signing rules. But he immediately met the expectations thrust upon him. He won AL Rookie of the Year in 2018 despite playing through a UCL injury for part of the season.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery following his rookie season, Ohtani was finally able to put it all together as a pitcher and hitter starting in 2021. In a four-year span, he unanimously won MVP three times, twice in the AL and once in the NL. The one season he didn’t win MVP, he finished second.
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Most recently, Ohtani also won a World Series in his first season with the Dodgers in 2024. That came as he wasn’t able to pitch, but he was still dominant at the plate. He became the first player in MLB history to record at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.
“The Kid from Akron” has more than lived up to the hype that began even before the 18-year-old basketball phenom was drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. In his 22 seasons in the league, James has earned four NBA championships and Finals MVPs (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020), as well as four NBA Most Valuable Player awards (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013). The 2024 Olympics MVP has become the NBA’s all-time scoring champion and leads the league in minutes played with over 57,000.
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Before he broke records in the NBA, James took the basketball world by storm as the standout player at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in his hometown. He was named the 2003 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year and was a two-time National High School Player of the Year and three-time Ohio Mr. Basketball. The Fighting Irish won the state championship three times in James’ four high school years, and the star made national headlines, most famously on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
During his first season in the NBA, James was named Rookie of the Year with final averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. During his second season, the now-40-year-old earned his first NBA All-Star Game selection on his way to a record 20 appearances and three All-Star Game MVPs. He has also won the NBA Cup championship and Cup MVP in 2023.
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