Famous Athletes and Their Top Sports Illustrated Shots

LeBron James, 2006

Lebron James has taken the sporting world by storm by becoming the number one first pick in the 2003 NBA draft for his team, the ‘Cleveland Cavaliers.’ He went on to win four NBA championships with multiple teams in his career and currently plays for Los Angeles Lakers, who he signed a two-year extension contract in 2020 worth $85 million. 

He is seen as one of the greatest players in basketball history and is often compared to the legend Michael Jordan. The 2020 sportsperson of the year has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated at least 37 times, including this shot in 2006.

Rob Gronkowski, 2012

Retired NFL player Rob Gronkowski was an American football tight end for the New England Patriots putting his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to an end in March 2019. The three-time Super Bowl champion played alongside his best friend and legend Tom Brady and is the record-holder for the highest number of touchdown receptions by a tight end. 

After announcing his retirement from the sport, Bronkowski teased in January 2022 that he may come back onto the field again with the Buccaneers. We reckon he wants to set more incredible records, and he holds quite a few. This 2012 portrait of Gronkowski appeared in Sports Illustrated.

Maria Sharapova, 2005

Many would recognize this Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova for her beauty, but she was also once ranked the number one best player in 2005. She won the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) five times; her profession started in 2001 before she went on to announce her retirement in February 2020. 

Her worth is estimated at $180 million, which she got from her championship wins and many endorsements, including Tag Heuer and Nike. Sharapova got engaged to English entrepreneur Alexander Gilkes in 2020, and the two holidayed in Venice in September 2021, a nice change to their usual Santa Barbara home. 

Michael Jordan, 1998

Michael Jordan is regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time since winning the NBA championship with the Bulls for the first time in 1991, then achieving his own accolades by becoming the NBA MVP six times and many more.

He has become a significant figure when it comes to endorsements, scoring brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Nike, where created the signature shoe ‘Air Jordan’ in 1984, and it is still popular to this day. Jordan has an incredible $1.6 billion wealth, as recorded by Forbes in February 2022.

Nadia Comăneci, 1976

The Romanian, Nadia Elena Comăneci is a retired gymnast known for becoming the first to achieve a perfect 10.0 score at the Olympic Games in 1974 at the age of 14. She then went on to win nine gold medals and four World Artistic Gymnastic Championships during her career. 

Comăneci married fellow Olympic gold medalist Bart Connor in 1996. The two founded ‘Bart Connor Gymnastics Company’ in Oklahoma in the same year. They both work on ‘International Gymnast’ magazine and still contribute to the sports world today as analysts and commentators.

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