Top 20 athletes of the 21st century ranked including LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

ESPN named and ranked the top 20 athletes of the 21st century, producing a list that caused plenty of debate.

The American publication enlisted the help of contributors, racking up 70,000 votes to get a well-rounded opinion.

ESPN compiled a list of the top 100 since 2000 and rounded it off with 20 of the biggest stars in all of sports.

Formula One's Lewis Hamilton cracked the top 20 and featured in 19th place after a joint-record seven championship wins, with NBA legends Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Donald and Steph Curry coming in 17th, 16th and 14th respectively.

But it is four-time NBA champion LeBron James who is the highest-ranked basketballer, sitting in fourth - six places higher than the late, great Kobe Bryant.

Patrick Mahomes is widely viewed as the heir to Tom Brady's throne and he features in 18th spot - with the seven-time Super Bowl champion still clear in fifth.

Image: Getty

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo may well be disappointed with his ranking of 13, while in tennis Roger Federer (6) is ahead of both Novak Djokovic (11) and Rafael Nadal (12).

Fastest man alive Usain Bolt, golf royalty Tiger Woods and USA gymnast sensation Simone Biles are ranked ninth, eighth and seventh respectively.

To finish, ESPN then placed eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi and 23-time major champion Serena Williams on the podium behind swimming phenomenon Michael Phelps, who was named the greatest athlete of the 21st century.

The most successful Olympian in history, Phelps has a record of 28 Olympic medals in his collection - 23 of which are Gold.

The list in full reads:

20.Aaron Donald

19.Lewis Hamilton

18.Patrick Mahomes

17.Shaquille O'Neal

16.Tim Duncan

15.Katie Ledecky

14.Steph Curry

13.Cristiano Ronaldo

12.Rafael Nadal

11.Novak Djokovic

10.Kobe Bryant

9.Usain Bolt

8.Tiger Woods

7.Simone Biles

6.Roger Federer

5.Tom Brady

4.LeBron James

3.Lionel Messi

2.Serena Williams

1.Michael Phelps