US TV ranked the five greatest athletes of all time and British fans can't believe their picks

A list of the greatest athletes of all time compiled for American TV has resurfaced and it is infuriating British sports fans.

During an ESPN broadcast from 2021, pundit Max Kellerman picked his top five sportspeople in history.

It was a list of unquestionable icons, with six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan ranked number one.

Second was boxing great Muhammad Ali, while baseball legend Babe Ruth was named in third place.

At the number four spot was Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who is now the highest-paid commentator in sports after retiring in 2022.

And finally, at number five, was Serena Williams, who won 23 grand slam titles throughout a glittering tennis career.

But Kellerman's list has, unsurprisingly, drawn criticism online. One bone of contention non-US sports followers highlighted was due to the fact the entire top five consists only of American athletes.

"Novak Djokovic and Leo Messi should be on there, but hey, they're not Americans..." wrote won commenter on X.

"Wait, did sports originate from America? This is just abominable and insulting," said another.

"I don’t understand how anyone can be the greatest athlete in a sport only played by one country," added a commenter from England.

Many pointed to the absences of the likes of Usain Bolt and Novak Djokovic, while even within the sphere of American sports stars, many observers felt Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps should have made the list instead of Brady or Ruth.

And one commenter named a prominent, groundbreaking figure from athletics history who could have been in contention for the all-time top five: "Jesse Owens broke four world track and field records in the space of an hour and a half in a single afternoon, and then single handedly destroyed Hitler’s Aryan supremacy myth at the 1936 Olympics. Absolutely belongs on that list."

The two names most commonly cited as the biggest snubs, however, were Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Messi robbed," said one poster.

"Where is Cristiano Ronaldo?" another asked.

Of course, any such list is always going to be subjective. But Kellerman's seemed especially myopic, given the lack of Olympians or sporting figures from outside America.