One of the most entertaining things about professional sports is that regardless of where they are played, you can see at least one of two personalities all the time. One, you can always point out the guy who is a has-been athlete whose ego is still at the top of the mountain when their game has already hit rock bottom. The other side here is that you can also point out the guy who is at the top of the mountain, but his ego is about as big as if he was playing JV ball. Oh yeah, we have all kinds of examples of humble athletes as well as egotistical players in all kinds of sports. That gave us the idea for this little list to point out some athletes who clearly don’t realize they are not what they used to be anymore, while at the same time pointing out some guys and gals who are at the top of their game but still stay humble.
The interesting thing about this topic is that it doesn’t matter where you come from, becoming a professional athlete usually means that you are going to be very famous and often very rich. Those are two things that can mess with a person’s head, and they are usually what leads a person who might have been humble at the beginning of their career to become a cocky individual because of how far they have gotten.
20 Has-Been: Carmelo Anthony
The person who would have the hardest time hearing this is probably Carmelo Anthony himself. Many people have been saying over the past few years that he is not the kind of player he used to be and that him even being considered an All-Star is a longshot as it has been for a few seasons. Nevertheless, what his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder proved is that Anthony is without a doubt a has-been. This guy was just terrible. Yes, he can complain that he had to take a diminished role in OKC, that he got fewer shots than he used to, and everything else that he might want to say. But the truth is that he was terrible. Carmelo only took three fewer shots per game than he did in his final season with the Knicks. Still, his scoring average came down from 22.4 to 16.2 a game. And let us not even get started on how he played during the playoffs. This guy shot 37 percent from the field as he took 12 shots per game against Utah. He shot a measly 21 percent from three. Those are not the numbers you expect from a guy like Anthony.
The most mind-blowing thing about it all is that despite his poor numbers, he still believes he is one of the best players in the NBA.
Almost immediately after the season was over, in a game where no one could find him, the first thing Melo did was complain about the coaching and saying that he would not accept a bench role.
19 Humble: Roger Federer
Going from one opposite to the other, there is perhaps no better protagonist to Carmelo Anthony in sports than Roger Federer. While Anthony has been steadily getting worse and worse as he grows older, Federer has done the complete opposite. It really does seem like this tennis legend is going to play at a top level forever. The man is almost unparalleled when it comes to tennis. The first time he sat on the throne of number one player in the world was back in 2004, a year in which he won three Grand Slam singles titles. Not only that, that same year he won a total of 11 singles titles, which is beyond ridiculous. Either way, from that point on he stayed near the top of the tennis world and is still currently the number two player on the globe. Here is where you could imagine this guy would be one of the cockiest players in the history of sports. After all, he’s the all-time leader in career earnings in tennis with prize money north of $116 million.
But no, Roger is one of the humblest people in all of sports. Unlike many of his superstar colleagues, he didn’t marry a supermodel or actress. No, he married his sweetheart, whom he met at the 2000 Olympics. He is also deeply involved with charity and philanthropy.
18 Has-Been: Ben Roethlisberger
Yeah, it is hard to find a figure that is as hated in the NFL as Big Ben Roethlisberger. When it comes to his skill, it is hard to deny that he was one of the best quarterbacks of his generation. Roethlisberger was a six-time Pro-Bowler, a two-time Super Bowl Champion, and was in the conversation for league MVP several times. As many people would imagine, the fame really got to his head as Roethlisberger might just be one of the cockiest guys in the NFL, which is something impressive given how many egotistical players are part of the league. Still, the thing that might be the most unnerving for fans about how Roethlisberger still puts up the facade that he is one of the greatest guys in the world is that he still does that even after going through the legal issues he did earlier in his career.
That is the kind of thing someone should bury their head in the sand for and count themselves lucky for not being jail if they managed to get away with it, which is ridiculous by itself. The one place where people might find silver linings is that it really does seem like his career is coming to a close and he is not as effective as he used to be. Hopefully, rookie quarterback Mason Rudolph will play well enough to steal his spot.
17 Humble: Steph Curry
Despite the fact that Steph Curry grew up around the game of basketball and seemingly had greatness destined for so long, and the fact that his team has been the most dominant in the NBA in recent seasons, Curry still keeps his feet on the ground.
Curry has become one of the best NBA shooters of all time, yet he didn't hesitate to welcome Kevin Durant aboard in the summer of 2016, even if it meant Curry having to take somewhat of a backseat to KD.
Curry was also able to put his ego aside before KD arrived, as for several years, Curry was making far less money than the average NBA Superstar would make, playing out a four-year, $44 million deal. Curry however, refused to make it a story, saying back in early 2017:
"One thing my pops always told me is you never count another man's money," Curry said. "It's what you've got and how you take care of it. And if I'm complaining about $44 million over four years, then I've got other issues in my life."
The Warriors rewarded Curry with a five-year max contract last summer and needless to say, Curry deserved it. Even now though, Curry is someone who is hard to hate, even for those who have grown tired of Golden State's dominance over the NBA.
16 Has-Been: Paul Pierce
Yes, Paul Pierce was one of the best players of his generation, and he did get his number retired by the Boston Celtics. He might also be part of a Hall of Fame class someday, but that one is still iffy. We are not going to sit here and say that this guy was a terrible player. He was good, and he has a championship as well as 10 All-Star selections to prove it. The thing is that Paul has always been one of the biggest trash talkers in the NBA while he was active, and here is where the problem lies. Usually, when someone is a trash talker with a big ego, the main thing they should focus on is to make sure that they can back up all that talk. Where Paul went wrong was that he kept doing all of the trash talking as he grew older, but his game was one that severely suffered with the age. By the time this guy was playing with the Clippers, he was barely a role player, and his shooting percentages were getting to the mid-30s, which is pretty bad for a guy who shot better than 44 percent for his career.
Not only that, he has become one of the most annoying basketball analysts on television today. Let’s just say people could claim that as a Clipper he was a humbler player than he is an analyst.
15 Humble: Kawhi Leonard
Many people would agree to call him one of the top three players in the NBA today. Some would even claim that Kawhi Leonard is a better player than Kevin Durant. However, recently he has become famous for the strangest of reasons. Many people, a group that apparently includes a large portion of the San Antonio Spurs organization believe that Leonard decided to take a year off (save for 9 games) claiming medical reasons when he had already been cleared to play by the Spurs and their medical staff. Now, no one knows what is really going on with Kawhi Leonard, and that is weird because he is one of those guys who does not like the spotlight around him.
Yes, he is one of the best basketball players in the world, but contrary to the vast majority of his colleagues, he does not seem to like having the narrative around him.
He is not the kind of guy you are going to see deliberately going in front of cameras all the time. No, in order to get an interview with Leonard, reporters have to hunt him down and not give him any fleeing options if they want to be successful.
Those are some of the reasons why this guy is widely recognized as one of the humblest players in the NBA today. We might even go as far as saying he’s one of the humblest guys in all of sports.
14 Has-Been: Tiger Woods
Once upon a time, Tiger Woods was the lighthouse guiding African-American athletes to being pioneers in their own sports. Before this guy came into the spotlight, how many people legitimately thought that they would see an African-American golfer being recognized as the best in the world somewhere in the late '90s and early 2000s? Yeah, people might claim that racism is over, but it wasn’t until Tiger that minority athletes really got a taste that they could play and compete at a high level in literally any sport.
When it comes to skill, Tiger was the best of his generation, and you will find few people willing to deny that claim. After all, this is a man who won nothing less than 14 major championships. He was selected as the PGA Player of the Year on 11 different occasions. That is more than a decade of dominance in a sport that sees the balance of power shifting a lot. Unfortunately, Tiger had some off the course issues that severely affected his play and certainly took his ego down a notch. Ever since his divorce and the scandal that followed it, he has been trying to make a comeback and finally seems to be close to it as he recently finished tied in 11th place at The Players Championship.
13 Humble: Lindsey Vonn
Since we were talking about Tiger Woods, this was a perfect opening for us to start talking about Lindsey Vonn. We mentioned it, and you certainly read about and saw it on television how Woods went through a rough patch after his divorce in 2010. He was a confessed addict and was going through several problems finding his footing in life after all of the scandals that broke out with the end of his marriage. One of the people who helped him a lot in the meantime was Lindsey Vonn. The gold medalist skier and the all-time great golfer started dating, but it was clear to everyone that, while they were together, Lindsey was the best thing that ever happened to Tiger. And that relationship is a very good example of how this Olympian is as a person.
You will have a hard time finding a better athlete and a humbler one in all of sports than Lindsey Vonn.
She is one of those people who know that she is blessed to be who she is, and she makes sure to thank her fans at every step of the way. Whether people like to admit it or not, that is hard to see, given that this is a woman who has an Olympic gold medal as well as two World Championship gold medals on her resume.
12 Has-Been: Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah Thomas is one of those guys you either love or hate, which seems to be a constant when we are talking about guys who have egos bigger than themselves. Sorry, we didn’t mean to make that a pun, but it worked out perfectly since for a basketball player, Thomas is on the smaller side of the spectrum in his 5’9” frame. That being said, he was one of the most surprising players of recent years. It was almost mind-blowing how he went from "Mr. Irrelevant" (last pick in the NBA draft) to a guy who came off the bench in Phoenix to an MVP candidate with the Boston Celtics.
His 2016-17 season was completely beyond what anyone ever imagined a guy like him would be able to do. Again, this is a 5’9 player who averaged almost 29 points per game through an entire season. That is ridiculous. The problem was that the whole thing seemed to get up to his head and the hype did not help Isaiah’s play. After that superstar season, he was traded to Cleveland where his career literally derailed as he was labeled a team cancer and was eventually traded again, this time to the Lakers. Now we will have to wait and see, but you can be sure his ego probably has taken a big hit as he will hardly get a big contract in free agency.
11 Humble: Jordan Spieth
It is funny how sometimes the guys who are not that good have the biggest egos and trash talk all the time. Meanwhile, the legitimately gifted players who have the world in their hands are usually good people who stay humble and true to their roots. Someone who perfectly fits that description is American professional golfer Jordan Spieth. Yes, at just 24-years-old, there is still a lot of time for Spieth to change as both a person and as a player, but if we were to make a bet on this guy’s personality and how it is going to evolve as he matures, we would say it is a pretty safe bet to claim that he will stay humble.
A Texas kid, Jordan is a guy who has always been around the game of golf. He started his amateur career back when he was just 16, and by the time he was 18, he was already the number one junior golfer in the world. He wasn’t even two years into his studies at the University of Texas when he decided to turn pro in 2012. It turned out to be a good decision as just three years later, he became the second youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament. He would go on to win another two major championships to this day, and you can be sure he will win more in the future. Still, this guy is the perfect example of humbleness.
10 Has-Been: Anderson Silva
When he is in front of the cameras, Anderson Silva puts on a good act of trying to stay humble and thanking everyone who helped him get where he is. However, sports like mixed martial arts offer fans and opponents alike a window into the real personality of a fighter.
It doesn’t matter what kind of persona you try to put up outside of the octagon, as soon as you walk into that cage, your true self is exposed to everyone. And let’s just say that anyone who ever saw Anderson Silva fight, has seen that he is about as disrespectful to his opponents as any fighter gets.
Mixed martial arts is a sport in which two men or women are trying to beat the living hell out of each other inside a cage. Respect is not something a person on the outside would think plays a lot in this environment, but that could not be further from the truth.
All fighters understand that they are colleagues and if it weren’t for the guy on the other side of the cage, you would not have a job. That is what made it infuriating for everyone whenever Silva started taunting his opponents. His skill was clearly unmatched as he is without a doubt the best fighter of his generation, but the way he tried to show it off only showed everyone that the humble persona he put up in front of the cameras was far from the real Anderson Silva.
9 Humble: Alex Morgan
Skill, intelligence, beauty. You will have a hard time finding a human being who is more complete than Alex Morgan. Whenever someone has a kid, they always pray to whatever God they believe in that their kid has all of the attributes that he or she will need to be successful when they grow up. However, as we all find out eventually, we all have flaws in one way or another in life. Some people were gifted with unmatched intellects like Stephen Hawking was, but on the downside, some of these people might have to face an illness as serious as the one he had. Some people are born beautiful, but to put it simply, they aren't too smart. Some people are born with a godlike skill to perform whatever kind of job they do, but they get made fun of because they are ugly according to societal parameters.
We mention all of that just to make you realize how special a person like Alex Morgan is. This lady is arguably one of the best soccer players of her generation. If you watch her play or see any of her interviews, you will realize that she is also one of the smartest people in sports. And to make even more people jealous, she is about as beautiful as soccer players come. Oh yeah, she is also an incredibly humble athlete despite being an Olympic and World Cup champion.
8 Has-Been: Ryan Lochte
From an Olympic gold medalist who could give a class in terms of humbleness, to another Olympic gold medalist, but one who could give a very informative class on how not to behave if you are a public figure. Seriously, there are politicians who cannot get their reputations more stained than Ryan Lochte managed to get his during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Anyone who has followed his career knows that Lochte is the kind of athlete who loves himself.
And following that logic, he really does think that everyone in the world should love him as well. What we are trying to say here is that this guy needs a lot of attention on him all the time, which could be hard for a swimmer given that people only really give attention to his sport whenever the Olympics are coming around. That being said, when the last Olympics were here, Ryan decided to make use of the spotlight and get some more attention than usual.
So, while in Brazil he decided to go up to a television crew and tell them that he and some of his teammates were robbed at gunpoint the day before. Little did he know that there are a lot of security cameras in Rio and some of those cameras caught him and his buddies vandalizing a gas station instead of being robbed.
7 Humble: Fedor Emelianenko
You cannot talk about mixed martial arts without at least mentioning the name Fedor Emelianenko. This 41-year-old Russian fighter has nearly become a folkloric figure within the MMA community. He has been around for so long and has been performing at a high level that it shouldn’t be hard to find people who followed him early in his career who thought he would be retired by now. Nevertheless, this guy just keeps on fighting, and fighting at a high level. His professional mixed martial arts record stands at 37 wins and only five losses. Now, just to put it in perspective, Fedor’s first professional MMA fight happened all the way back on May 21, 2000. Yeah, he was fighting right at the start of the century, at a time when the likes of Conor McGregor were still mere children. Now, almost 18 years later, this Russian legend has won his latest fight by knockout against Frank Mir, who is another industry legend.
But the reason we gave you this little background was to put in perspective how odd it is that this guy is humble in a sport where trash talk and the spotlight can make or break a fighter’s career. If you saw him during press conferences, you would think it is weird how shy this mountain of a man seems to be. He is also one of the most approachable fighters in the world when it comes to interacting with his fans.
6 Has-Been: Nick Diaz
Staying in the world of mixed martial arts, we could not find a bigger opposite to Fedor than Nick Diaz. Once upon a time, many people thought that he could have been one of the greatest fighters of all time, but as recent years seem to have proven, his career has gone downhill. Much of this has to do with his demeanor. This guy is an a-hole, there is no better way to describe it. If you were to make a list of the most annoying people in mixed martial arts, Nick Diaz with without a doubt be near the top.
The interesting thing here is that his fighting style is very suitable for someone who has an ego like his.
Diaz is a fighter who will openly go to a press conference and say that he wants nothing more than to bash his opponent’s face into the back of his skull. Then, when he walks into that octagon, he tries to do exactly that. This guy is vicious, and once upon a time that could have been a good thing. The problem is that while he has managed to score 26 wins during his career, he also has nine losses on his resume. Oh yeah, he was also suspended for five years because of drug use.
5 Humble: Sidney Crosby
It's not all that shocking that you would come across a hockey player being described as humble, but still, for a player who's been the best of his generation and to still display the humility Sidney Crosby does, that's something that should be recognized. Crosby only cares about playing hockey, and much like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady devote(d) every ounce of their free time to continuing to hone their craft, Crosby continues to do that. But Crosby isn't above regular folk at all. There have been many stories of Crosby joining in random pickup hockey games, as he always carries a stick and puck with him.
One great story emerged this past winter in which a young hockey player was practicing outdoors in the countryside of Quebec and got a surprise. Guillaume Ouimet, 19 years old, spotted Sidney Crosby approaching the outdoor rink where he was practicing.
"He's walking to see the outdoor rink and I'm just like all excited," said Ouimet.
"He asked me a question about the ice and if I was alone, and then I tell him I'm alone and I can see he just wants to skate and not be bothered by a lot of persons."
The fan then went on to say Crosby greeted all his teammates and spent time with the rink employees. It's always good to see some athletes haven't forgotten their roots.
4 Has-Been: J.R. Smith
One of the most interesting things about not just the NBA but basketball as a whole is that no matter where you go, you can always find that one guy who believes he’s better than Michael Jordan. You know exactly who we are talking about. We are talking about that one player in your pickup game who will take every contested fade-away jumper and clearly believe he’s going to make every shot. In a sense, you have to respect people like that because it takes a whole other level of confidence for someone to take shots like those people do and still walk back on defense with a straight face. That is if they even try to play defense.
Someone who embodies that personality in the NBA today is J.R. Smith.You will not find a single person who will deny this claim. Even Cleveland fans know very well what we are talking about.
J.R. is one of those players who really believes he is “The Guy” even though LeBron James is on the same team.
This has the led to a series of love-hate relationships between him and fans. And given how he's now 32 years old with his best years behind him, J.R. does fall in the category of a has-been player.
3 Humble: J.J. Watt
It doesn’t matter what sport we are talking about. Once in a generation, you usually see a guy or gal who you can instantly point at and say, “this kid is special.” One of the players who evoked that kind of feeling in all of football fans was J.J. Watt. To say that this guy is special is to put it lightly. The Houston Texans' defensive end is arguably the best defensive player we have seen in the last decade in the NFL. Yes, we feel okay with saying this because there won’t be many people to fight this claim. There are countless of amazing defensive players in the NFL, but when it comes to individual talent, this guy is nearly unmatched. The only problem was that after five superstar caliber seasons, he started having problems with injuries.
This is a very sad thing. In 2016, it was a back surgery that took him away for most of the season. Then in 2017, he suffered a fracture in his left leg. Those are not the kinds of things you wish upon anyone, much less on a guy as talented as J.J. And in terms of him being humble, you need to look no further than to how he did not accept being selected as a top 100 player in the NFL because he played just three games in a season.
2 Has-Been: Chad Johnson
Some people might know him as Chad Johnson, others might know him for his changed name, Chad Ochocinco. But most people will know him as one of the best wide receivers during his tenure in the NFL. Chad Johnson/Ochocinco was one of those guys opposing defenses absolutely despised. If you were a cornerback or a safety and you knew you were going to go up against this guy, you were without a doubt losing sleep at least once or twice during that week. While he was at his prime, Johnson was a force to be reckoned with. There was even a season he finished with 93 receptions for 1,440 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Yeah, ridiculous numbers. Let’s not forget that he played most of his career in Cincinnati, so he didn’t have a quarterback like Tom Brady to throw him passes or anything. Either way, this guy was a six-time Pro-Bowler as well as a two-time first-team All-Pro.
Unfortunately for him, the end of his career was disgraceful, to say the least.
He lost space in Cincinnati after a couple of subpar seasons and eventually went to New England where he eventually retired after just one season. Still, not many people outside of his fan base were too sad to see this guy go because he is without a doubt one of the cockiest athletes who ever lived. He even wore a “Future Hall of Famer” jacket once.
1 Humble: LeBron James
We cannot complete this list without the addition of LeBron James. Yes, the King’s detractors might try to claim that LeBron brags on the media and he shows off when he is on the court, but we dare any of those people to point those moments out. LeBron James is a pure example of professionalism, and whatever a role model should be like. Seriously, if any father or mother ever heard their son saying they want to be like LeBron James one day, those parents could rest easy because their kid chose a perfect role model. LeBron is someone who had very humble beginnings, and he never forgot where he came from. Most importantly, he never forgot his duty to give back to his community. You cannot even count on your fingers how many kids from Akron went to college and got the opportunity to give their families a better life because of scholarships donated by LeBron.
Not only off the court, but he is also the perfect example of a leader inside the basketball court. Arguably the second-best basketball player of all time, you will seldom if ever hear anyone saying anything bad about LeBron James’s character. He is just a good guy through and through.