TIME Magazine published its inaugural list of the 100 most influential figures in sports on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
The special issue honors athletes, coaches, and executives across four categories: Icons, Titans, Innovators, and Leaders.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James appears on the cover and is designated as "Athlete of the Century" in the Icons category.
TIME Editor in Chief Sam Jacobs explained the rationale behind the list, noting that sports remains a unique realm where massive global audiences gather in real time.
"In our increasingly fragmented media environment, sports remains one of the last realms in which massive global audiences gather together in real time," Jacobs said.
He added that external industries are gravitating toward live athletics, and athletes have seized larger platforms.
The Leaders category includes Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who rose to prominence after a historic college football season.
TIME senior correspondent Sean Gregory detailed Mendoza's journey from a college transfer to the No. 1 NFL Draft pick.
"Fernando Mendoza accomplished one of the great surprise college-football feats: he won a national championship and Heisman Trophy as quarterback for Indiana, a basketball school with so little football tradition that, before Mendoza's arrival in 2025, the Hoosiers hadn't played in a Rose Bowl since 1968," Gregory wrote.
Mendoza led Indiana to a 16-0 record, the first 16-win season in college football since 1894, and threw 41 touchdown passes.
He also announced a $500,000 donation for multiple sclerosis research, inspired by his mother Elsa, who was diagnosed with MS nearly 20 years ago.
Mendoza expressed gratitude for being included alongside legends like LeBron James.
"It's a blessing and it really comes from having a great team and great teammates and great coaches of my past year in college because without them, then we wouldn't have as many games as we did," Mendoza said.
He added that he is happy to start from the bottom again in the NFL.
"Although it's great to get some reminders from the college career, it's good to start back from stage one, from level one, have to work my way back up and get a sense of industriousness to be successful at the next level," he said.
Innovators and Icons
The Innovators section recognizes professional pickleball player Anna Leigh Waters, 19, who signed a global roster deal with Nike in January.
Waters is the top-ranked player in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles on the Pro Pickleball Association Tour.
She discovered pickleball in 2017 when her grandfather introduced her to the game during Hurricane Irma evacuation.
Waters turned pro at 12, becoming the youngest professional pickleball player, and reached the top ranking at 15.
"I am incredibly proud to begin this next chapter of my career with Franklin Sports," Waters said earlier this year.
Franklin Sports confirmed that the endorsement made Waters the first pickleball athlete on Nike's elite global roster.
The physical TIME100 sports issue will hit newsstands on July 12, 2026.
