Break out the cake and balloons because Feb. 17 might be one of the best days for athlete birthdays.
On this day, 60 years ago, Michael Jordan came into this world. The college and NBA stardom would follow along with movies, sneaker dominance, business ventures and a world of iconic moments and classic memes.
Jordan isn’t the only notable sports star to be born on Feb. 17. He’s joined by Jim Brown and Luc Robitaille. There are a couple other dates featuring birthdays of multiple all-time sports figures. When adding great birthdays from pop culture, however, does Jordan’s big day make it the GOAT of GOAT birthdays? Let’s blow out the candles and look at some big days and compare.
The date: Dec. 30
Sports GOAT(s) born today: Tiger Woods and LeBron James
Woods has the record for PGA Tour wins (82) and the second-most major wins (15). James has four NBA titles with three different teams and is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Both Tiger and LeBron are also among the few athletes whose net worth is more than $1 billion, according to Forbes.
What else the day gave us
The brilliance of Sandy Koufax: He packed a lot into a 12-year career. Koufax won four World Series with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the World Series MVP in two of those series. He also, unanimously, won the Cy Young three times.
The Punk Poet Laureate meeting the Boss: American singer, songwriter, punk music icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith was born on this day in 1946. While she has made 11 albums, and written 27 books, Smith’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Because the Night” remains her most well-known song. It reached No. 13 on the 1978 Billboard Hot 100 list.
Anything else?: “The Jungle Book” (Rudyard Kipling, born 1865); Roman Pearce from the “Fast and the Furious” franchise (Tyrese Gibson, born 1978); one Roman emperor (Titus, born 39 A.D.).
The date: Feb. 17
Sports GOAT born today: Michael Jordan
In 1963, His Airness arrived. We know the rest. An NCAA title, two Olympic gold medals, six NBA titles, five…
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