Lionel Messi? LeBron James? Novak Djokovic? Of these names, who would you say has been the best athlete of 2023 thus far?

Some of these athletes have entered their respective sports and their corresponding leagues and/or competitions associated with them, dominating them for two decades, but determining who truly is the best out of all the athletes old and young from this year is a near-impossible task.

With many factors in play here, including personal and/or (if it applies to that sport) team achievements, we have taken to Ranker to find out who fans have voted as the top athlete to take to their pitch, field, track, or court this year so far. Ranker is a free-to-use site that allows its users to rank any person, object, or even country, and has a whole plethora of categories that intertwine things together.

In this case, we’ll be using it to determine who sports fans have voted as the top 15 athletes to light up the sporting world in 2023, but Ranker has also a number of other trending topics such as where does Ryan Gosling rank on the greatest child stars who kept acting as grown-ups, the greatest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters, the best countries to visit in the summer, and life-changing documentaries you’ve got to see.

Now that we have gone off on that tangent, let’s circle back for a minute. Who are the top 15 athletes of 2023? Well, without further ado, let's see who the fans have voted for and who makes the top 15!

15 LeBron James

‘The King’ LeBron James has had a stellar year when it comes to his own personal performance and adding to his GOAT level status.

According to his 2023 NBA Player Capsule, James in 2022-23 has completed the 20th best season in terms of raw statistical production in NBA history, averaging almost 29 points per game, slightly over eight rebounds per game, and somewhere around seven assists per game, with nobody coming close. He was the most vital cog in the LA Lakers offence and was stellar on defence late on in games when his team needed him most, taking his team all the way to the Western Conference finals. He also became the league’s leading all-time scorer, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and moved to fourth on the all-time assists tally. All that at 38 years of age too!

14 Joe Burrow

Known as one of the most accurate passers in the NFL, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has had a tremendous year so far. According to Pro Football Reference, Burrow was fifth in the league in total passing yards, second in touchdown passes and completion percentage, with he and the Bengals' offence ranked third in QB rating. His dynamite arm led the Bengals all the way to the AFC Championship game against the eventual Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs, which they unfortunately lost, but Burrow himself was impressive.

13 Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Greek Freak reigned supreme once again in the NBA this past season, averaging 31 points per game, 12 rebounds, and was 17th in the league when it came to field goal percentage. He dominated in the regular season, helping the Milwaukee Bucks towards playoff qualification. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs by the Miami Heat.

12 Novak Djokovic

The Serbian has had a truly dominant season this year. His season record stands at 33-5 (86.8 win percentage) and has won the Adelaide International, Australian Open, and French Open, the second of which was his 23rd major honour overall, overtaking Rafael Nadal’s all-time record of 22. He also reached the final at Wimbledon, where he was defeated by 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in a back and forth match for the ages.

11 Kylian Mbappe

This lad keeps going from strength to strength, doesn’t he? In the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season, he led Paris Saint-Germain to their 11th Ligue 1 title and did so scoring 29 goals, doing so with usual frightening speed and trickery that bamboozles defenders.

Their Champions League campaign wasn’t as successful, as they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Bayern Munich.

He also led France to another World Cup final last year, narrowly coming up short to Argentina despite Mbappe having a tremendous showing in that match.

10 Stephen Curry

Arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history, Curry had another tremendous season, averaging nearly 30 points per game and finishing seventh in the league in three-point shot percentage. He helped the Golden State Warriors to a 44-38 record in the regular season, although they were eliminated in Western Conference semi-finals 4-2 by The Lakers. Nevertheless, Curry was doing Curry things – making near-impossible shots look easy and lighting up the league in only the way he can.

9 Patrick Mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs had a fantastic season thanks in major part to this man, leading the league in passing yards, yards per game, and accumulating a league-leading 41 touchdowns passes this past season. He led his team to a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, all while playing through an ankle injury. He’s already cemented himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the sport, and he’s only 27 years old!

8 Lionel Messi

What can we say about this man that hasn’t already been said? Messi is truly the greatest player of all time, cementing that legacy for himself by adding that elusive World Cup trophy to his own personal cabinet, as well as Player of the Tournament by scoring seven goals and bossing the World Cup final.

He also had a good season at club level with Paris Saint-Germain in a resurgence of form, scoring 16 goals and providing a league-leading 16 assists on their way to another league title.

He has recently moved to David Beckham-owned Inter Miami and is already setting the Americas on fire in the Leagues Cup and will undoubtedly do the same when the MLS resumes later this summer.

7 Luka Doncic

This 24-year-old Slovenian superstar just keeps getting better and better! This season saw Doncic average a career high 32.4 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game (a team-high) and eight assists per game (another team-high), while also ranking second in scoring in the league behind MVP Joel Embiid, which put in him in NBA’s All-First Team. Despite numerous personal career bests, his team The Dallas Mavericks failed to qualify the playoffs with a 38-44 win/loss record.

6 Max Verstappen

The Dutchman has been the centrepiece of Red Bull Racing for the last few seasons now and has been a polarising figure on the track. He has become a back-to-back world champion, the second of which saw him win 15 races and secure his second Drivers’ title at the Japanese Grand Prix, and is storming his way towards another this season by the looks of things, having won 10 of the 12 races on the calendar thus far. Verstappen is changing the game and will no doubt continue to do so under the Red Bull banner, having signed a contract until 2028 with the outfit.

5 Kevin De Bruyne

Definitely the best midfielder on the planet right now, the Belgian international has become part of one of the best sides in recent memory. He helped in securing Manchester City’s first treble, which included the Premier League (City’s third consecutive league title), the FA Cup, and their first UEFA Champions League. In the league, De Bruyne led the way in assists with 16, playing unreal pass after many unreal pass, while also contributing seven of Manchester City’s 94 goals scored in the league last season.

4 Erling Haaland

Speaking of Manchester City, we move onto their Norwegian goalscoring machine. Signing from Borussia Dortmund last summer, nobody could've possibly predicted the 22-year-old taking to the Premier League like a duck to water, scoring a league record 36 goals and making it look so easy to score the type of finishes in the box that he did. He also added another FA Cup title to City’s trophy cabinet, as well as that already mentioned first Champions League. He will no doubt spearhead the Sky Blues attack for the next few years and continue to dominate on the very same level.

3 Connor McDavid

McDavid was the NHL’s shining light this season, scoring 64 goals and accumulating 89 assists in a rampant display of ice hockey sorcery the likes of which hasn’t been seen for many years and achieved numerous records along the way. He led his Edmonton Oilers all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, but they were unfortunately defeated by eventual champions the Golden Knights.

2 Nikola Jokic

The 28-year-old Serbian centre has revolutionised his playing position, becoming something centres of decades past would only dream of. He averaged 24.5 points per game, as well as 9.8 assists per game, and 11.8 rebounds per game in a season that saw him become NBA Finals MVP and led the Denver Nuggets to an NBA Championship.

1 Shohei Ohtani

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher stands top of the voters’ list on Ranker, meaning he takes top spot here as well. The Japanese international is highly thought of as the league’s best player, pitching at lightning speeds and often pitching batter after batter out and passed Babe Ruth on the all-time strikeout list. He did so by striking out Jeremy Pena of the Houston Astros for the 502nd pitching strikeout of his career.