Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
To help everyone celebrate Friday the 13th, here are the top 13 pro athletes in history – Jason Vorhees’ old Camp Crystal Lake hockey mask, notwithstanding - to thrive despite wearing the supposedly unluckiest of numbers.
13. Odell Beckham, Jr.: It’s still fairly early in the acrobatic Giants wideout’s NFL career, but ODB already has made enough ridiculous catches in two seasons with Big Blue to prove that he fully deserves to be included on this list - and that he undoubtedly will move up in the rankings in the coming years.
12. James Harden: The third overall pick in the NBA Draft by Oklahoma City in 2009 was dealt to Houston after the Thunder reached the NBA Finals in 2012. The Beard has been named to four straight All-Star teams while averaging 27.0 points per game with the Rockets, finishing second in league MVP voting to Steph Curry in 2014-15.
11. Kristine Lilly: The Jersey girl was a member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team for 23 years, finishing as the most capped player in the history of the sport (men or women) with 352 international appearances through 2010. “Lil” also ranks third all-time in USWNT history in goals (130), behind only Abby Wambach and Mia Hamm.
Kristine Lilly is one of USA soccer's best players of all time.
(Mark Lyons/Getty Images)
10. Pavel Datsyuk: The retiring Red Wings center averaged 92 points per season from 2005-09 and was a key member of Stanley Cup winning teams in Detroit in 2002 and 2008. Datsyuk also was a four-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play and a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward.
9. Michael Ballack: The soccer legend is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team, captaining Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad to the World Cup Finals in 2002 with game-winning goals in the quarterfinals and the semifinals. Ballack also wore No. 13 in star turns for Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
8. Mats Sundin: The first Swedish-born player to score at least 500 goals in the NHL (564), the former Maple Leafs captain also led Team Sweden to a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Excluding the 1994-95 lockout-shortened campaign, Sundin recorded at least 70 points in 15 consecutive NHL seasons.
Kurt Warner rides No. 13 to two MVPs and a Super Bowl win.
(TOM GANNAM/AP)
7. Omar Vizquel: You might not immediately think he’s Hall of Fame material, but Cooperstown almost certainly is in “Little O’s” future. The longtime Indians shortstop copped 11 Gold Gloves awards, and his .985 career fielding percentage is tops all-time at his position. Oh, and Vizquel also owns the most hits of any Venezuelan-born player in baseball history with 2,877.
6. Kurt Warner: From grocery store clerk to going undrafted to two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the St. Louis Rams, Warner’s ranks as one of the great personal tales in league history. He threw for over 32,000 yards over 12 seasons, also made a Super Bowl with Arizona and happens to be the last quarterback other than Eli Manning to start a game for the Giants back in 2004.
5. Don Maynard: Joe Namath’s favorite target with the Jets, the Hall of Fame wide receiver still holds franchise records with 627 receptions, 11,732 receiving yards and 88 touchdowns in New York from 1960 through 1972. A member of the only Super Bowl titlists in Jets history, Maynard’s No. 13 has been retired by Gang Green since 1973.
Wilt Chamberlain is known for (at least) two numbers: 13 on his jersey and 100 in the scorebook.
(PAUL VATHIS/AP)
4. Steve Nash: The Canadian-born point guard won back-to-back NBA MVP awards for the Phoenix Suns and was an eight-time NBA All-Star. Nash also finished with the third-most assists in league history (10,335) behind only John Stockton and Jason Kidd – and just ahead of another famous No. 13, former St.
John’s and Knicks star Mark Jackson.
3. Dan Marino: One of the best players in history to never win a Super Bowl, the nine-time Pro Bowler for the Miami Dolphins held 25 league passing records when he retired in 1999. Marino threw for over 4,000 yards six times, including a then-record 5,084 in his lone NFL MVP season in 1984.
2. Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod wore No.3 earlier in his career with Seattle and Texas before famously switching to 13 when he joined the Yankees in 2004, because his previous number had been retired for decades in the Bronx for a fellow named Babe Ruth. It’s been a star-crossed dozen years in pinstripes ever since for Rodriguez – featuring two MVP awards, the lone World Series title of his career in 2009, too many gossip-page appearances to list and two separate blowups with performance-enhancing drugs, including his full-season Biogenesis ban in 2014.
1. Wilt Chamberlain: If you’ve never done it, go look up Wilt the Stilt’s mindboggling year-by-year statistics, which extend way beyond the NBA-record 100 points Chamberlain scored in one game for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Knicks in 1962. The 7-1 center AVERAGED 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game that season, and he finished his career with seven scoring titles, four MVP awards and two NBA championships. Speaking of crazy stats, Chamberlain also boasted in his autobiography to have slept with more than 20,000 women in his lifetime.
* Honorable mention (rounding out what would be the Top 20): Edgardo Alfonzo (baseball), Dave Concepcion (baseball), Mark Jackson (basketball), Alex Morgan (U.S. soccer), Alessandro Nesta (Italian soccer), Joakim Noah (basketball), Billy Wagner (baseball).