The Greg Hill Show’s top 5 most influential Boston athletes since 2000

With the MLB All-Star break being the slowest week on the sports calendar, ESPN.com has published a “top 100 professional athletes since 2000” list . And as I wrote earlier today , the list doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense. But when you have the clickbait context in mind while reading the list, it helps you stomach some of the questionable placements.

On Thursday, members of the The Greg Hill Show used this list as a jumping off point for their own list: top five most influential Boston athletes since 2000.

WEEI’s Courtney Cox, Jermaine Wiggins, Chris Curtis and Chris Scheim each gave their top five. And to the surprise of no one, each of them had Tom Brady in their top spot, followed by David Ortiz at number two.

Here’s who each of them had for spots three through five:

Courtney :
3. Paul Pierce
4. Patrice Bergeron
5. Aly Raisman

Wiggy :
3. Rob Gronkowski/Julian Edelman
4. Paul Pierce
5. Patrice Bergeron

Curtis :
3. Paul Pierce
4. Pedro Martinez
5. Tim Thomas

Scheim :
3. Patrice Bergeron
4. Kevin Garnett
5. Jayson Tatum

A fair amount of repetition in each of these four lists, but each host had a wild card in the mix as well. Like Courtney, for example, selecting a gymnast in her top five.

“You guys are going to hate [my number five], but I don’t care,” she said. “Olympian Aly Raisman, because not just what she did at the Olympics, but also what she had to deal with with gymnastics as a whole. The way that she spoke out against Larry Nassar, an absolute dirtbag. And I just think she is a role model for young athletes, male or female, everywhere.”

Curtis also had his wild card in the fifth spot, selecting 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas.

“I’m going off the board a bit here, but you can’t argue it,” said Curits. “Absent Tim Thomas, the Bruins haven’t won, they still haven’t won since 1972. Tim Thomas, in that run, was the greatest championship performance since Brady came back 28-3.

“The performance Game 5 at Montreal, the kick saves and double overtime, that would have blown up the whole team. The performance that he had throughout those playoffs to bring a championship here is unparalleled. And they don’t win without it, at all. The Celtics have won two - there’s no singular person because you can say Tatum, [Jaylen] Brown, Pierce, Garnett. Tim Thomas, number five.”

Wiggy’s wild card selection came at number three in the form of a “tag team,” as he put it.

“I kind of tag team them a little bit,” said Wiggy. “First off, it’s Gronk. Gronk, because he was part of that changing Brady, the dynasty. And I gave [Edelman] an honorable mention with Gronk, because I felt like Edelman should have been [included].”

Scheim’s wild card came in the form of Tatum - the youngest athlete of this group and most recent champion of the bunch.

“He’s beginning a new era in a city where things were not going great for us for a little while post-Tom Brady,” said Scheim. “Jayson Tatum’s now been with the team seven seasons. He has ushered in what is hopefully the next dynasty. And so for me it’s Jayson Tatum.”

There’s plenty of athletes across all four teams in Boston you could make the case for since 2000. Zdeno Chara won a Norris Trophy in 2009 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest defensemen in NHL history. Two different Red Sox players have won American League MVP - Dustin Pedroia in 2008 and Mookie Betts in 2018. Two different goalies outside of Thomas won the Vezina Trophy - Tuukka Rask in 2014 and Linus Ullmark in 2023. Rick Porcello won the American League Cy Young Award in 2016. Stephon Gilmore was the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Manny Ramirez has a Boston resume that would require its own full blog post. Jaylen Brown is a three-time All-Star, Finals MVP and one-time All-NBA Second Team selection.

A few of those names are obviously nowhere near this top five conversation, but it illustrates a larger point we all know and love: 13 championships since 2000 doesn’t happen without elite talent.