The Most Beloved New York Sports Stars in Derek Jeter's Lifetime

Derek Jeter's days as a Yankee are numbered. Amongst the likes of Namath and Messier, where does he stand in the pantheon of New York sports stars?

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Complex Original

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Derek Jeter has seen his last at-bat in front of the Yankee Stadium faithful. It's an awkward exercise that Yankees fans are putting themselves through these days. They're celebrating a man who's hindered the Yankees' playoff chances these past two seasons, and going through a process of remembrance as if he's dead or something. Born in 1974, Derek Jeter is only 40 years-old. And although his life as an active Yankee is done, the man still has the entire second half of his life to look forward to.

For generations of Yankees fans who don't know what the Yankees are without Jeter (a generation that also has no Yankee for Jeter to pass the baton to), this is a time to appreciate and reflect on where Jeter stacks up against his peers. Jeter's revered as a larger-than-life figure, but when compared to the likes of New York stars like Joe Namath and Willis Reed, how will Jeter be remembered? Ranked from "least beloved" (relative to this concept, of course) to "most beloved", find out where Jeter ends up in The Most Beloved New York Sports Stars in Derek Jeter's Lifetime.

 

Denis Potvin

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Mike Piazza

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Julius Erving

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Bill Bradley

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Adam Graves

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John McEnroe

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Charles Oakley

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Bernard King

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Dwight Gooden

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Don Mattingly

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Gary Carter

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Phil Simms

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Willis Reed

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Mariano Rivera

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Walt Clyde Frazier

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Lawrence Taylor

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Thurman Munson

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Mark Messier

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Joe Namath

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Derek Jeter

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