Best Athlete of the Decade

The Benedict News surveyed the school to see who Benedict’s favorite athlete was. Some of the options included were Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serena Williams, and more.

Kobe Bryant won with a dominant 25 percent of the vote in the survey. Kobe is one of the best basketball players in history. He died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. His death shocked millions of people, especially because it happened in an accident. “When Kobe died it hit me differently because he has a family, too, and another family just lost a husband and then a widow is made. It hit me different because I wasn’t expecting it,” said Jonathan Cineus. 

Many students around the school were okay with the fact Kobe won the vote considering his impact on many of them. “He’s also somebody that is a good example for everybody who loves sports and life in general, so I believe he’s a good pick,” said Edgar Granda.

Coming in second place is Lional Messi with 15.5% of votes. Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players ever. He is from Argentina and plays for FC Barcelona and won the Ballon D’Or award, generally regarded as the most prestigious award given to individual soccer players,  six times.

“He keeps grinding and he keeps scoring goals, he’s like one of the best players who has ever existed,” said Edgar Granda. “No player on the pitch has ever done what he has done. He inspires me a lot because he came from a very poor place in Argentina and he grew up to be this great phenomenal player and that inspires, too, to keep working hard.”

In third place, Lebron James and Cristiano Ronaldo tied. James is another great basketball player who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

“I would expect them to be tied because everyone loves Cristiano and everyone loves Lebron because they both have fan-based support,” said Jonathan Cineus.

“I believe that Lebron James is the best athlete of the decade because not only he is super athletic he is also a caring person on the court and off the court,” said Jamar Ricketts.

Jahaad Dasher agreed on Ricketts’ pick of James. “He won three championships within his course of the decade,” Dasher said. “He won 4 MVPs, he played over seventeen all star appearances and he passed a lot of NBA players with a lot of records. Lebron started off as poor and now he is a famous basketball player.”

Sports is a large part of the culture at St. Benedict’s. Many students play sports at St. Benedict’s and look to the brightest stars in the sports world for inspiration. The athletes mentioned have all had profound impacts on students everywhere.

“ I think students look up to athletes because athletes are hard workers,” said Khyri Brewer. “They inspire kids to become the best at whatever they do.”