Sports figures lost in 2020
- 1/59
Phil Niekro | Dec. 26
Louis Requena via Getty Images - 2/59
K.C. Jones | Dec. 25
Rick Stewart via Getty Images - 3/59
Ty Jordan | Dec. 25
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 4/59
Kevin Greene | Dec. 21
George Gojkovich via Getty Images - 5/59
Ray Perkins | Dec. 9
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 6/59
Dick Allen | Dec. 7
Sporting News Archive via Getty Images - 7/59
Rafer Johnson | Dec. 2
Gary Friedman via Getty Images - 8/59
Diego Maradona | Nov. 25
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 9/59
Paul Hornung | Nov. 13
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 10/59
Tommy Heinsohn | Nov. 9
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 11/59
Joe Morgan | Oct. 11
Focus On Sport via Getty Images - 12/59
Whitey Ford | Oct. 8
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 13/59
Bob Gibson | Oct. 2
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 14/59
Gale Sayers | Sept. 23
Focus On Sport via Getty Images - 15/59
Lou Brock | Sept. 7
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 16/59
Tom Seaver | Sept. 1
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 17/59
John Thompson | August 31
Al Bello via Getty Images - 18/59
Clifford Robinson | August 29
Mitchell Layton via Getty Images - 19/59
Lute Olson | August 27
Ezra Shaw via Getty Images - 20/59
Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya | July 17
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 21/59
Ken Riley | June 7
George Gojkovich via Getty Images - 22/59
Reche Caldwell | June 6
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 23/59
Kurt Thomas | June 5
Tony Duffy via Getty Images - 24/59
Wes Unseld | June 2
Focus On Sport via Getty Images - 25/59
Curtis Cokes | May 29
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 26/59
Eddie Sutton | May 23
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 27/59
Jerry Sloan | May 22
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 28/59
Michael McCaskey | May 16
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 29/59
Zach Hoffpauir | May 14
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 30/59
Phyllis George | May 14
New York Daily News via Getty Images - 31/59
Jim Tucker | May 14
NBAE via Getty Images - 32/59
Bob Watson | May 14
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 33/59
Mary Pratt | May 6
Boston Globe via Getty Images - 34/59
Don Shula | May 4
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 35/59
Marty Smith | April 24
Fairfax Media Archives via Getty Images - 36/59
Steve Dalkowski | April 19
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 37/59
Hank Steinbrenner | April 14
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 38/59
Tarvaris Jackson | April 12
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 39/59
Al Kaline | April 6
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 40/59
Bobby Mitchell | April 5
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 41/59
Tom Dempsey | April 4
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 42/59
Les Hunter | March 26
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 43/59
Curly Neal | March 26
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 44/59
Bill Bartholomay | March 25
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 45/59
Mike Stratton | March 25
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 46/59
Bryce Beekman | March 24
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 47/59
Tony Fernandez | Feb. 15
Ron Vesely via Getty Images - 48/59
Willie Wood | Feb. 3
AP - 49/59
John Andretti | Jan. 30
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 50/59
Chris Doleman | Jan. 28
Star Tribune via Getty Images via Getty Images - 51/59
Kobe Bryant | Jan. 26
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 52/59
Gigi Bryant | Jan. 26
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 53/59
John Altobelli | Jan. 26
ASSOCIATED PRESS - 54/59
Rocky Johnson | Jan. 15
George Napolitano/MediaPunch/IPx - 55/59
David Glass | Jan. 9
Ed Zurga via Getty Images - 56/59
Pete Dye | Jan. 9
Al Messerschmidt via Getty Images - 57/59
Sam Wyche | Jan. 2
Rick Stewart via Getty Images - 58/59
Don Larsen | Jan. 1
Bettmann via Getty Images - 59/59
David Stern | Jan. 1
zz/Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx
Every year has losses, and in this year that challenged people in unprecedented ways, the sporting losses were an added gut-punch. Kobe Bryant died tragically the week before the Super Bowl. Baseball had a summer that saw Hall of Famers like Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson pass on. A towering college basketball icon, John Thompson, died in August. Soccer legend Diego Maradona, who scored “The Hand of God” goal, died shortly after turning 60. David Stern, the NBA's longtime commissioner, left us on New Year's day.
From Hall of Famers to hometown heroes, here are some of the sporting figures we lost in 2020.