The Definitive Sports City Mt. Rushmores
Mt. Rushmore Season started early this year.
I know it seems a little early for Mt. Rushmore season, but the hockey team I've grown accustomed to watching play well into May and June the last few seasons has just been eliminated from postseason consideration, and I don't care much for the NBA, so here we are.
Since the dog days of summer have begun early for me, I thought we could kick Mt. Rushmore season off with a bang.
I wanted to take a look at each city with sports franchises in each of the four major sports leagues (NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL) and determine who the most influential figure from each league would be for that given city.
These are four of the most iconic sports figures for each of the 11 cities with four major sports leagues.
I tried to weigh longevity, championship success, and whether the athlete was drafted or spent the majority of his career in the same city, as well as just an overall iconic factor that was a bit harder to quantify.
READ: Five Professional Athletes Who 'Resurrected' Their Careers
Some of these will be more obvious than others, so if you have any disagreements, you know where to find me.
Miami: Dwyane Wade, Dan Marino, Aleksander Barkov, Jeff Conine
We start with my hometown (more or less).
Dwyane Wade is one of the most iconic South Florida sports figures, regardless of which league they played in, and the same goes for Dan Marino.
Though he lacks the championship pedigree of a guy like Bob Griese, I doubt anyone would argue Griese is more iconic to the city of Miami than Marino.
Aleksander Barkov was also a no-brainer with his two Stanley Cups and three Selke Awards, though if you had asked me half a decade ago I might have given the nod to Roberto Luongo, the goalkeeper turned front office exec.
Baseball was the toughest to choose from, given the Marlins' dearth of players who stick around for more than just a cup of coffee thanks to the myriad fire sales.
With all that said, Jeff Conine is literally nicknamed "Mr. Marlin," and was instrumental in both World Series championships in South Florida, though guys like Miguel Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton, and Hanley Ramierez were close seconds.
Boston: Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Bobby Orr, Larry Bird
Tom Brady is about as obvious as it gets, up there with a few others in New York and Chicago as the biggest slam dunk on this entire list, but the others took a little more thought.
David Ortiz might be a controversial choice, given Ted Williams was there for the taking, but Big Papi helped break the Curse of the Bambino, winning multiple World Series in Beantown, and has become ingrained in the local culture of Boston.
Bobby Orr has one of the most iconic goals in NHL history and is a Stanley Cup champion, so his selection is secure.
Larry Bird, much like Ortiz, could have been eschewed in favor of a guy like Bill Russell, but I felt Larry Legend was a more iconic Boston figure, while Russell felt more like more of an overall NBA legacy choice.
It might be splitting hairs, but I associate Bird with Boston more than Russell.
New York: Babe Ruth, Mark Messier, Lawrence Taylor, Patrick Ewing
Again, no one is arguing about the selection of Babe Ruth. Even when picking from the Yankees' pantheon of legends, the Bambino stands alone.
Mark Messier wasn't drafted by the Rangers and probably is best remembered for his time in Edmonton, but the NHL legend won the city of New York a Stanley Cup in 1994 behind an iconic guarantee in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils, so he had to be the pick almost by default (though Brian Leetch and Henrik Lundqvist were close).
Lawrence Taylor is one of the most feared defensive players in NFL history, and the Giants lack a true icon at quarterback for any of their modern championship runs, so this one had to go to LT.
Finally, Ewing lacks the championship accolades of the other three, but when you think of Knicks basketball, it has to start with the 11-time All-Star, despite standouts like Bernard King raising a banner in Madison Square Garden.
Washington D.C.: Max Scherzer, Elvin Hayes, John Riggins, Alex Ovechkin
D.C. is an odd combo of historic franchises like the Redskins and new kids on the block like the Nationals, and I wanted to make sure this was city-specific, so I didn't include Expos players like Vlad Guerrero.
With that being said, Max Scherzer felt like the right pick, spending a good chunk of his career in the nation's capital and winning D.C. a World Series in 2019.
Had he stuck around a little longer, Bryce Harper certainly would've been the selection here, but he skipped town just one year before the Nats won it all.
For the 'Skins, John Riggins makes the list for similar reasons to LT, since he was the best player on a number of championship teams in addition to D.C. lacking a true icon under center.
Elvin Hayes is a Hall of Famer and NBA champion, so he makes the list almost by default since the Bullets/Wizards don't have a lot of champions in their ranks.
The easiest pick was obviously Alexander Ovechkin, who is the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer, holds virtually every Capitals record in the franchise's history, and won the city their only Stanley Cup in 2018.
Chicago: Patrick Kane, Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Ernie Banks
Along with Ruth and Brady, no one was an easier pick than His Airness, so I won't spend any time on his inclusion.
Patrick Kane was almost as easy a pick, though Jonathan Toews briefly crossed my mind.
Kaner is the best American player of all-time and won three Cups in Chi-town, so it felt like he was the most obvious Blackhawk to put on this list.
The Bears have a ton of all-time greats, but Walter Payton was the best combo of personal accolades, championship pedigree, and spent the entirety of his career in Chicago.
The toughest pick was for the Cubs, oddly enough.
I thought about a guy like Anthony Rizzo, who, much like Big Papi, broke a World Series curse in a baseball crazy town, but I had to go with Ernie Banks.
Banks is "Mr. Cub" and is probably the best overall player to ever play in the Windy City, and that combo put him over the edge for me.
Denver: Joe Sakic, Nikola Jokic, Todd Helton, John Elway
The Mile High City is a sneaky elite sports town, with three of their four legends having championships to their name.
Joe Sakic is one of the best players of his era and guided the Avalanche to two Stanley Cups as the team captain in 1996 and 2001, though if you ask me in another decade there's a chance he will be supplanted by Nathan MacKinnon.
Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA right now and is one of the only players on this list to still be an active participant in his respective sport, but his personal accolades and his 2023 championship made him a layup at this spot.
The Broncos had a ton of great players come through their ranks, but John Elway is obviously the most decorated of them all, with his two Super Bowl rings and numerous team passing records buoying him.
The only player without a championship to his name in Colorado is Todd Helton, but his personal accomplishments coupled with the fact that the Rockies still haven't won a World Series had him running virtually unopposed at this spot.
Los Angeles: Anže Kopitar, Magic Johnson, Aaron Donald, Sandy Koufax
Los Angeles has the championship pedigree to put it up there with cities like Boston and New York, but the West Coast vibes and lack of permanent fans when compared to the East Coast sports towns might not give Tinseltown the due it deserves.
A guy who knows a thing or two about winning championships is Magic Johnson.
It was hard to choose between Magic or Kobe, since both won five rings while in LA, but I had to give the nod to Johnson because he was the unquestioned best player on at least four of those championship teams, while it could be argued Kobe played second fiddle to Shaq for the first part of his career during the Lakers' threepeat.
Anže Kopitar is another one I had to pick over a few other worthy candidates, namely Jonathan Quick and Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky never won a Cup in LA, and Quick was the netminder for both Stanley Cup runs in 2012 and 2014, but Kopitar has two Cups, multiple Selke Awards, and has spent his entire career in Los Angeles, where he will retire a King and has been their captain for a decade.
Sandy Koufax just barely edged out Clayton Kershaw, though you'd be splitting hairs picking one or the other, so I could hear arguments for Kershaw despite Koufax holding the edge in World Series MVPs.
Finally, Los Angeles has had some rather transient NFL franchises, but Aaron Donald is perhaps the best defensive tackle of his era and spent the majority of his career in LA (though entirely with the Rams' franchise), winning them a Super Bowl in 2022.
Dallas: Dirk Nowitzki, Mike Modano, Emmitt Smith, Ivan Rodriguez
Dallas is another city that has a sneaky illustrious sports history to its name, with a number of legends to choose from.
Three of these were no-brainers, with Mike Modano, Emmitt Smith, and Dirk Nowitzki all delivering championships to D-Town and doing so as the best players on their respective teams.
Smith could be argued, given he was on a team with a guy like Troy Aikman, but Emmitt holds the all-time rushing record in the NFL and should be treated as head and shoulders above his other Cowboys compatriots.
The tough one was who to represent the Rangers.
I thought maybe Adrian Beltre or even Nolan Ryan would work here, but after thinking about it, it had to be Ivan Rodriguez.
Pudge is one of the best catchers of all-time and spent almost his entire career in the DFW area, a place he is beloved by to this day.
Bay Area: Willie Mays, Stephen Curry, Joe Thornton, Joe Montana
I couldn't call this San Francisco, since the city proper doesn't have a hockey team, but after expanding to the Bay Area, I had plenty of legends to choose from.
Steph Curry, Willie Mays, and Joe Montana all won multiple championships for the Bay Area and are all legends in their respective sports, but the Sharks have never won a Stanley Cup, so whoever I picked was going to feel like the odd man out.
With all that said, Joe Thornton had to be the one to make the cut.
Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski were considered, but Jumbo Joe was one of the best players in the league for a good stretch of time in the late 2000s and early 2010s and will probably hold a ton of the Sharks' all-time records until youngster Macklin Celebrini inevitably shatters them.
Philadelphia: Mike Schmidt, Julius Erving, Bobby Clarke, Reggie White
The City of Brotherly Love has some absolute legends to their name, starting with perhaps the greatest third baseman in the history of Major League Baseball, Mike Schmidt.
Schmidt delivered a championship to Philly and has a World Series MVP to show for it as well, so his inclusion was nearly a slam dunk, though I gave Chase Utley a strong look.
Julius Erving and Bobby Clarke also have championships to their name, with the former being the high-flyer with the awesome nickname (Dr. J) and the latter heading the Broad Street Bullies, a fearsome group of hockey brutes who terrorized the NHL in the mid 70s en route to back-to-back Stanley Cups.
The odd man out from a championship perspective is Reggie White, but he might be the most personally accomplished of them all, being one of the most feared and statistically dominant pass rushers in NFL history.
Regardless, all four entries were near unanimous picks.
Detroit: Gordie Howe, Barry Sanders, Ty Cobb, Isiah Thomas
Last but certainly not least is Detroit, and The Motor City might have one of the strongest collective of athletes in the bunch.
While guys like Jeff Conine and Ernie Banks were Mr. Marlin and Mr. Cub, respectively, Gordie Howe has the distinction of being Mr. Hockey.
The ageless wonder played professionally well into his 50s and delivered numerous Stanley Cups to Detroit in addition to his numerous individual awards (he also has a Hat Trick named after him).
Ty Cobb was one of the best baseball players of his era and one of the most statistically impressive of all time, so his inclusion on the list was non-negotiable.
Isiah Thomas was the ringleader of the Bad Boys Pistons of the 1980s, and his back-to-back NBA Championships and tough-as-nails attitude helped personify the gritty city of Detroit, making him as synonymous with the Pistons as anyone.
Finally, Barry Sanders never won a championship for the city, but it was through no fault of his own.
Though Emmitt Smith holds the rushing record in the NFL, many believe Sanders was the greatest running back of the 90s and, perhaps, of all time.
It's hard to argue with his highlight tapes, and his six first-team All-Pro selections put him in rarefied air among running backs, and NFL players in general.