SportsCentury
SportsCentury poster
📺 Series

SportsCentury

📅 1999 ⭐ 7.1 🕐 30m US US
IMDb tt0281438 TMDB 10429
Documentary

SportsCentury is an ESPN biography program that reviews the people and athletic events that defined sports in North America throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1999, ESPN counted down the Top 50 Athletes of the 20th Century, selected from North American athletes and voted on by a panel of sports journalists and observers, premiering a new biography highlighting each top athlete every week throughout the year. The episodes for the top two athletes, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth, appeared on a special combined edition broadcast on Christmas Day on ABC. The top two names were announced in no particular order, and the final positioning was announced at the conclusion of the two episodes. An additional list of numbers 51-100 were announced on the ESPN SportsCentury website. Themed specials such as Greatest Games, Greatest Coaches, Greatest Dynasties, and Most Influential Individuals were premiered throughout the year, as well as six SportsCenter of the Decade programs. After the initial run was complete, the episodes were rerun at various times on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic. The original plan for the series was to expand to include #51-#100. Ultimately, the series featured nearly every athlete from #51-#100, and numerous other personalities, especially those who were recently deceased, or notable for more recent accomplishments.

Seasons & Episodes
Season 1 70 episodes ▼
E1
1900-49 1999-01-21
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E2
No. 50 -- Chris Evert 1999-01-22
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E3
No. 49 -- O.J. Simpson 1999-01-29
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E4
No. 48 -- Pete Sampras 1999-02-05
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E5
No. 47 -- Edwin Moses 1999-02-12
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E6
No. 46 -- Eric Heiden 1999-02-19
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E7
No. 45 -- Bill Tilden 1999-02-26
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E8
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1950s 1999-03-09
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E9
No. 44 -- Bobby Jones 1999-03-12
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E10
No. 43 -- Julius Erving 1999-03-19
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E11
No. 42 -- Sandy Koufax 1999-04-02
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E12
No. 41 -- Wilma Rudolph 1999-04-09
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E13
No. 40 -- Lawrence Taylor 1999-04-16
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E14
No. 39 -- Walter Payton 1999-04-23
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E15
No. 38 -- Ben Hogan 1999-04-30
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E16
No. 37 -- Mickey Mantle 1999-05-07
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E17
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1960s 1999-05-21
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E18
No. 36 -- Oscar Robertson 1999-05-14
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E19
The Greatest Coaches of the Century 1999-05-22
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E20
No. 35 -- Secretariat 1999-05-21
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E21
Most Influential People in Sports 1999-05-23
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E22
Greatest Dynasties 1999-05-30
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E23
No. 34 -- Lou Gehrig 1999-05-28
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E24
No. 33 -- Mark Spitz 1999-06-04
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E25
Greatest Games 1999-06-05
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E26
No. 32 -- Johnny Unitas 1999-06-11
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E27
No. 31 -- Bobby Orr 1999-06-18
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E28
No. 30 -- Larry Bird 1999-06-25
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E29
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1970s 1999-07-09
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E30
No. 29 -- Arnold Palmer 1999-07-02
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E31
No. 28 -- Red Grange 1999-07-09
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E32
No. 27 -- Jerry Rice 1999-07-16
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E33
No. 26 -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1999-07-23
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E34
No. 25 -- Joe Montana 1999-07-30
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E35
No. 24 -- Sugar Ray Robinson 1999-07-30
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E36
No. 23 -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1999-08-06
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E37
No. 22 -- Joe DiMaggio 1999-08-20
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E38
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1980s 1999-09-17
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E39
No. 21 -- Gordie Howe 1999-09-03
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E40
No. 20 -- Ty Cobb 1999-09-17
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E41
No. 19 -- Martina Navratilova 1999-09-24
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E42
No. 18 -- Bill Russell 1999-10-01
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E43
No. 17 -- Magic Johnson 1999-10-08
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E44
No. 16 -- Ted Williams 1999-10-08
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E45
No. 15 -- Jackie Robinson 1999-10-15
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E46
No. 14 -- Hank Aaron 1999-10-29
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E47
No. 13 -- Wilt Chamberlain 1999-10-29
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E48
No. 12 -- Carl Lewis 1999-11-05
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E49
No. 11 -- Joe Louis 1999-11-19
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E50
No. 10 -- Babe Didrikson 1999-12-03
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E51
No. 9 -- Jack Nicklaus 1999-12-03
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E52
No. 8 -- Willie Mays 1999-12-10
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E53
No. 7 -- Jim Thorpe 1999-12-10
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E54
No. 6 -- Jesse Owens 1999-12-17
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E55
No. 5 -- Wayne Gretzky 1999-12-17
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E56
No. 4 -- Jim Brown 1999-12-24
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E57
No. 3 -- Muhammad Ali 1999-12-24
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E58
No. 2 -- Babe Ruth 1999-12-26
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E59
No. 1 -- Michael Jordan 1999-12-26
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E60
SportsCenter of the Decade: 1990s 2000-03-26
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E61
Yogi Berra 2003-10-13
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E62
Derek Jeter 2003-10-17
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E63
Brian Piccolo 2001-11-02
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E64
Brian Piccolo 2001-11-02
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E65
Casey Stengel 2000-10-03
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E102
No. 50 - Chris Evert 1999-01-22
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E103
Joe DiMaggio 2000-07-10
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E104
Willie Mays 2000-07-25
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E105
Billy Martin 2000-08-07
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E106
Don Larsen 2000-10-23
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Season 2 7 episodes ▼
E1
Brett Favre 2002-01-28
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E2
Nancy Lopez 2002-08-05
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E3
Chris Webber 2002-04-26
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E4
New York Yankees, Part One 2003-10-06
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E5
Roger Maris 2000-12-04
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E20
Anna Kournikova 2002-05-28
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E21
Yogi Berra 2002-10-14
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Season 3 3 episodes ▼
E1
Chris Evert 2003-04-04
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E2
Chris Evert 2003-08-25
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E3
New York Yankees: Part 2 2003-10-07
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Season 4 34 episodes ▼
E1
Lyle Alzado 2003-09-26
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E2
Ball Four 2003-10-24
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E3
John Wooden 2003-09-26
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E4
New York Yankees, Part Two 2003-10-07
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E5
Roberto Clemente 2003-10-20
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E6
Dennis Rodman 2003-10-27
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E7
Pelé 2003-11-06
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E8
Jerry's Cowboys 2003-11-10
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E9
Mark Gastineau 2003-11-17
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E10
Barry Sanders 2003-11-24
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E11
Latrell Sprewell 2003-12-01
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E12
Al Davis 2003-12-08
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E13
Terry Bradshaw 2003-12-15
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E14
Seabiscuit 2003-12-29
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E15
1981 AFC Playoff: Dolphins vs. Chargers 2004-01-05
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E16
Bart Starr 2004-01-12
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E17
Tom Landry 2004-01-19
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E18
Bears' 46 Defense 2004-01-29
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E19
Jeff Gordon 2004-02-09
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E20
Mark McGwire 2004-02-16
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E21
Disciples of Jackie Robinson 2004-02-23
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E22
Steve Carlton 2004-03-01
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E23
Villanova vs. Georgetown 2004-03-22
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E24
Rick Pitino 2004-03-29
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E25
Phil Jackson 2004-04-12
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E26
Sammy Sosa 2004-04-12
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E27
Don King 2004-05-14
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E28
Steffi Graf 2004-06-21
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E29
Kevin Garnett 2002-04-15
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E30
Dennis Eckersley 2004-07-19
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E31
Pedro Martínez 2004-07-26
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E32
Mia Hamm 2004-08-09
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E33
Andy Roddick 2004-08-26
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E34
Sam Huff 2004-09-03
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Season 5 9 episodes ▼
E1
1999 Ryder Cup 2004-09-15
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E2
Peyton Manning 2004-11-08
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E3
Shaquille O'Neal 2004-12-24
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E4
Don Shula 2005-01-31
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E5
Mike Krzyzewski 2005-03-23
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E6
Phil Mickelson 2005-04-04
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E7
Pat Tillman 2005-04-22
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E8
Tony Stewart 2005-05-23
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E9
Alonzo Mourning 2005-05-31
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Cast
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