Philly finds its way into ESPN’s top 100 athletes of the 21st century list

ESPN ranked the top 100 professional athletes of the 21st century this week, and 5% of them are tied to Philly.

The list was announced in descending order over four days, with 25 names revealed each day from Monday to Thursday. A pair of Phillies were included between No. 100 and No. 76, a controversial former 76ers guard made the top 75, and two league MVPs with Eagles fandom appeared in the top 30.

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Here are the five Philly athletes who made ESPN’s top 100.

Former Phillies ace Roy Halladay was one of 17 baseball players to make the list, ranked No. 16 among them and No. 88 overall. Halladay pitched for four seasons in Philadelphia, and his first one helped him land a spot in the top 100.

The right-hander won 21 games and a Cy Young Award in 2010, pitching to a 2.44 earned run average while leading the league in innings pitched and complete games. He threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins in his 11th start and pitched a no-hitter in his postseason debut against the Cincinnati Reds. It’s one of only three postseason no-hitters in MLB history.

Halladay posted a 19-6 record and 2.35 ERA the following season and finished second in Cy Young voting, but injuries caught up to him during his final two years with the team. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019, two years after he died in a plane crash at age 40.

Bryce Harper slots in at No. 79 and just ahead of Halladay at No. 15 among baseball players. The Phillies slugger won his third Silver Slugger last season, just played in his eighth All-Star Game, and is battling with Shohei Ohtani for a chance at his third National League MVP award.

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The regular-season accolades are remarkable, but his .324/.432./.705 slash line in 30 postseason games with the Phillies stands out even more. Harper’s go-ahead home run against the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS, and his pair of homers and subsequent stare-downs of Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia in the 2023 NLDS, are some of the most memorable sporting moments of the last few years.

At 31, Harper is one of the youngest athletes on the list and has a ways to go in his career. The top 50 could be calling his name when ESPN releases its next top 100 in 2049.

His time in Philly was mostly forgettable, but Harden won three consecutive scoring titles from 2017-20 with the Houston Rockets and finished top three in NBA MVP voting each year, taking home the award in 2017-18. The season before, he led the league in assists.

Harden, a 10-time NBA All-Star and the only 76er on the list, did show some of that dazzle on occasion for the Sixers, including two 40-point performances against the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals, but he never did quite enough. The Sixers collapsed in that series as Harden shot 7-for-27 from the field with 10 turnovers in the final two games.

Millville native Mike Trout is ESPN’s second-greatest baseball player of the 21st century, only behind former Los Angeles Angels teammate Albert Pujols.

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Trout has won three AL MVP awards, finished runner-up four other times, and hit his way to nine Silver Sluggers. He led Major League Baseball in on-base percentage for four consecutive seasons in his prime.

Trout spends his offseasons in South Jersey and is a proud Eagles fan, having attended several games at the Linc.

Trout isn’t the only Eagles fan in the top 100. Kobe Bryant was also a committed Birds supporter and comes in at No. 10 overall, in between Usain Bolt and Novak Djokovic.

Bryant scored 2,883 points at Lower Merion High School, winning Naismith High School Player of the Year and leading the Aces to their first PIAA state championship as a senior in 1996. Lower Merion retired Bryant’s iconic No. 33 jersey in 2002, and after he donated $411,000 in 2010, the school renamed its basketball gym the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.

Kobe built his legacy in the NBA during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won five NBA titles and racked up 18 All-Star appearances and 12 All-Defensive selections. Bryant retired in 2016 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, three months after he died in a helicopter crash.