Who is the best athlete in professional sports?

Agreed with marriedwoman, Michael Jordan.

when it comes to tennis, to me it's Roger Federer and with basketball it's gotta be Michael Jordan.

Pele...He was a brilliant futbol player and is definitely my vote for best athlete...but MJ is also the man.

I figure since I asked the question I should throw something out there, if you go all time, it has to be michael jordan at first thought, he was easily a better athlete than lebron, but that is if you only go with the 4 major sports, i dont know how anyone could argue with michael phelps if you include those kind of sports, but im surprised no one has mentioned any of these people: tiger woods, the best golfer in the world for the past 15 years, bo jackson, a allstar in baseball and football, deion sanders, the only person to play in both a world seies and a super bowl, phil niekro, a pitcher who pitched into his 50s at an all star level, kobe bryant, a rapist...ya maybe he shouldnt be included, i think afetr you think about it, bo jackson is the best ever, and current is phelps

Well Michael Jordan cant be an anwser because he isnt playing anymore, unless its the best athlete of all time.Then yes it would be him, but active I would have to say Derek Jeter, LeBron James, Peyton Manning. There are tons of great athletes, everyone brings somthing great to the table. Good question.

If we are going best athlete of all time I will go with Michael Jordan and Pele. Soccer isn't very prevalent in the US, but from a world wide perspective, he is probably the most well known athlete being that soccer is the most popular sport.

For the top current professional athlete, I would go with either Lebron James, Michael Phelps or Tom Brady (assuming he returns healthy this year).

Well you gotta take into consideration what sport a person does, since we can't measure which sport is the most difficult (atleast not in a statistical manner) we can't really compare the athletes. I would have to say Usain Bolt, the 100m and 200m World Record holder, because he is a man that is young and has a lot of talent. He has quickly went from going against the big boys, to being one of them.