Jason Kidd, Aaron Rodgers Among Top 100 Athletes of This Century

Two former Cal stars make ESPN's list, but Rodgers is ranked lower than he should be. The top 50 still to come

Jason Kidd is now the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN took on the task of ranking the top 100 athletes in this century (2000-2024), and two former Cal standouts -- Jason Kidd and Aaron Rodgers -- are listed in the 51 to 100 group, with the top 50 still to be announced.

Will any Cal stars be in the top 50?

Kidd is ranked 69th, which seems about right considering he is a Basketball Hall of Famer and a member of NBA 75th Aniversary team. Ten of his 11 all-star selections came in 2000 or later as did his one NBA championship. I'd certainly put Kidd ahead of James Harden (No. 67) and Ray Lewis (No. 61), but that may be nitpicking.

He lifted Cal basketball to remarkable heights in his two seasons in Berkeley (1992-93 ad 1993-94), but those came before 2000.

Here is what ESPN said about Kidd.

Key accomplishments: NBA 75th Anniversary Team, Basketball Hall of Famer, 2011 NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-Defense, five-time All-NBA selection, four-time assists leader.

If not for Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan and the Lakers and Spurs dynasties of the early 2000's, Kidd might've had another championship and a MVP on his illustrious résumé. During his first two seasons in New Jersey, Kidd was at the peak of a career that saw him finish as one of the game's most elite passers and versatile triple-double threats. Kidd made teammates better everywhere he went, which was never more evident than during his first season in New Jersey in 2001-02, when he turned the Nets around from 26 wins the season before to 52 wins, leading to the franchise's first Finals appearance.

Kidd, though, finished second in MVP voting to Duncan before being swept in the Finals by O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. The following season, Kidd got the Nets back to the Finals only to lose in six games to Duncan and the Spurs. He would finally get a championship ring playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas in 2011. -- Ohm Youngmisuk

• Before LeBron, there was Jason Kidd

ESPN placed Rodgers at No. 91, which is simply too low. He has won more NFL MVP awards (four) than anyone other than Peyton Manning (five), and all four of Rodgers' MVPs came in this century. He probably gets dinged for having won only one Super Bowl, but he at least has that one championship. It's hard to believe he is behind the likes of Chris Paul, Shaun White, A'ja Wilson, Roy Halladay and several others.

Plus Rodgers had an outstanding 2004 season at Cal, leading the Bears to a No. 4 ranking in the final regular-season polls.

I'm not even sure Kidd, who never won an MVP, should be ranked higher than Rodgers, but that's at least debatable. Some of the other choices ahead of Rodgers are just plain wrong.

You have to wonder whether Rodgers' controversial beliefs and statements entered into the voters' minds.

Here is what ESPN said about Rodgers.

Key accomplishments: Four-time NFL MVP, 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro, HOF All-2010s team, Super Bowl XLV MVP, 475 pass TDs (Packers' career leader).

Of all the superlatives and milestones that can be used to explain Rodgers' greatness, here's one that often gets overlooked. He's the NFL's career leader in touchdown-to-interception ratio (475 TDs, 105 INTS). In that way, he was the anti-Brett Favre, yet he carried on Favre's remarkable run of success in Green Bay before getting traded to the Jets. Packers coach Matt LaFleur perhaps described Rodgers' impact best when he said near the end of Rodgers' run with the Packers: "A lot of people have been rewarded, quite frankly, because of his ability to go out there and play." -- Rob Demovsky

• Aaron Rodgers' timeline with Packers, ending in trade to Jets

We are waiting anxiously for the top 50, to be revealed the next two days. Who will be No. 1?

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