ESPN ranks the 20 best athletes in the last 20 years

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ESPN.com celebrates its 20th anniversary this week. We'll be highlighting some of the top teams, athletes and moments that characterized greatness in sports from 1995 to 2015.

Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods -- which athletes defined the pinnacle of sports over the past two decades? Our staff chose the following athletes as the best of the best. Athletes were limited to those whose careers existed or their crowning achievements occurred within the last 20 years.

No. 20: Sidney Crosby
No. 19: Barry Bonds
No. 18: Mia Hamm
No. 17: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
No. 16: Usain Bolt
No. 15: Brett Favre
No. 14: Tim Duncan
No. 13: Lance Armstrong
No. 12: Lionel Messi
No. 11: Shaquille O'Neal
No. 10: Derek Jeter
No. 9: Michael Phelps
No. 8: Kobe Bryant
No. 7: Peyton Manning
No. 6: Serena Williams

No. 5: Roger Federer

"Personally, I've gotten used to Roger breaking my records," Pete Sampras once said. What record, after all, has Federer not chased? He eclipsed Sampras' 14 Grand Slam titles in 2009, then tallied two more for good measure. He spent 302 weeks atop the ATP rankings, 16 more than Sampras, his closest competitor. And yet, there remains one record Federer hasn't yet claimed outright: He has matched, but not surpassed, Sampras' seven Wimbledon championships. Not even Federer, immortal though he once may have seemed, can fend off age and injury ... But there is one who believes the Swiss has one more left in him, and who knows better than Pete Sampras?

No. 4: Tom Brady

6: The draft round in which the New England Patriots tapped former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady 15 years ago; 3: The times he has earned Super Bowl MVP honors; 13: The years separating Brady's first Super Bowl win -- a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Feb. 3, 2002 -- and his fourth, just two months ago; 0: The number of quarterbacks with more Super Bowl wins to his name. Only Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw join Brady as four-time champions, and that, we think, is some all-time company.

No. 3: Tiger Woods

On June 15, 2008, Tiger Woods stood 15 treacherous feet away from Torrey Pines' 18th hole. One shot shy of U.S. Open leader Rocco Mediate, it was birdie or bust for the world's best golfer on Father's Day. He pulled his putter back. He struck the ball. The ball nearly lipped out, and then:

"Expect anything different?" NBC announcer Dan Hicks said.

The ball found the hole. Of course, it found the hole. It might seem like an eternity ago -- seven years is an eternity in the life of an athlete -- but for a moment, there was no surer thing than Woods. He collected 14 majors in 12 years' time, and even if there are no more to come, even if today's Woods is but a shell of the early-aughts era legend, we saw Tiger prowling the greens in red and black. So we saw greatness.

No. 2: LeBron James

When the Cleveland Cavaliers selected hometown kid James with the first pick of the 2003 NBA draft, we were all witnesses. When the King took his talents to South Beach seven years later, we were all witnesses. And four years after that, when James announced he was coming home, we were all witnesses. There were five championship appearances, two titles won and four MVP honors in between. He was beloved, reviled, then beloved again, and all before he was 30.

No. 1: Michael Jordan

The tongue. The clincher. The flu. The fax. Yes, the '90s belonged to His Airness -- and every last moment he left in his iconic wake. Jordan won back-to-back-to-back championships starting in the 1995-96 season -- and as many Finals MVPs -- but above all else, he gave rise to an entire generation that just wanted to be like Mike. "I think he's God, disguised as Michael Jordan," Larry Bird once said ... along with just about every other sports fan who had the privilege to watch Jordan elevate the game of basketball to an art form.

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