Top 20 UNBREAKABLE Sports Records
These insane sports records are unbreakable! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those sports records so impressive that they probably won’t ever be broken.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Wayne played chess and he was playing 5, 6, 7, 10, 20 moves ahead of everybody.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those sports records so impressive that they probably won't ever be broken.
00:12Stockton stole the ball! Stockton stole the ball! He's the all-time leader in the history of the game!
00:20Number 20. 40,474 plus career points. LeBron James.
00:26Now, we understand that there was probably a time after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989
00:31that people thought his career points mark of 38,387 was a record that would never be broken.
00:36We'd just like to say thank you for letting us share in your great, great career.
00:42And while Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant made runs at it, they both ended their careers about 2,000
00:47and 5,000 points behind Abdul-Jabbar, respectively. Then along came LeBron James,
00:52and on February 7, 2023, he scored the 38,388th point of his career and took over the top spot on the career points list.
01:01LeBron James, a shot in history, and there it is! LeBron stands alone!
01:09A spot that now stands at over 40,400 points and growing.
01:13The closest active player to James is Kevin Durant, and he's about 12,000 points behind.
01:2019. 200 NASCAR Wins – Richard Petty
01:23Richard Petty's nickname is The King, and looking at what he did on the racetrack,
01:28that moniker looks to have been well-earned.
01:30It's been wonderful. I mean, 35 years, the good Lord's looked after us all these years,
01:35and I'm still walking around.
01:36Petty has a whole host of racing records that will probably never be broken,
01:40including most wins in a season, 27, most Daytona 500 wins, 7, and most consecutive wins, 10.
01:47But the one that stands above all others, the king of his records,
01:51has got to be his 200 NASCAR wins.
02:08The consistency needed to get that many victories over a long career is impressive.
02:13But even more impressive is how far ahead of the pack he is.
02:16David Pearson sits in second place, and he ended his career with 105 wins.
02:2218. 11 Stanley Cups – Henri Richard
02:25The Montreal Canadiens were a dominant force in the NHL throughout the 1950s,
02:3060s, and 70s, taking home 16 Stanley Cups throughout those decades.
02:34One player who was a key part of those teams from 1955 to 1975 was Henri Richard.
02:46He led the league in assists twice, and was the ninth player to tally 1,000 career points.
02:51And over the course of his 20-year career, Richard won 11 Stanley Cups as a player,
02:57a record that we feel is unlikely to ever be broken.
03:01The only other players close to 11, like Jean Beliveau and Yvan Cournoyer with 10,
03:05were teammates of Richard's for most of their wins.
03:08Richard led Montreal to the 1973 championship, a record 11th Stanley Cup as a player.
03:14Even Wayne Gretzky, the greatest player of all time, only has four Stanley Cups.
03:2017. Seven no-hitters – Nolan Ryan
03:23It's true that there have been more no-hitters in Major League Baseball over the past few years.
03:27In fact, 2021 saw nine no-nos, which is the most ever for one season.
03:33However, while there have been more of them league-wide,
03:36there hasn't been one pitcher racking them up like Nolan Ryan did decades ago.
03:45Ryan pitched his first five no-hitters between 1973 and 1981.
03:49The current active pitcher with the most no-hitters is Justin Verlander with three,
03:53and it took him 12 years between 2007 and 2019 to do that.
03:58Ryan also got his sixth and seventh when he was 43 and 44 years old,
04:02respectively, which on its own is also pretty amazing.
04:11There's no breaking this no-hitter record.
04:1416. Seventy-four consecutive match wins – Martina Navratilova
04:19On February 15, 1984, Martina Navratilova lost to Hanna Mandlikova in the finals of
04:25the Silicon Valley Classic. She wouldn't lose again until December.
04:29Starting with her next match on February 20,
04:32Navratilova would spend the next 10 months defeating everyone in her path.
04:44A path that included 74 consecutive matches and three majors – the French Open,
04:50Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. She also made it to the semifinals of the Australian Open,
04:54which is where her streak ended, two matches away from a possible Grand Slam.
04:58Biggest upset of the year in tennis. Sakoda wins the semifinal from Navratilova,
05:04and she's into the final of the Australian Open.
05:06Not only is she the only player to reach 74 match wins in a row, no one else has even gotten to 50.
05:13Bjorn Borg got to 49 once, and the great Serena Williams' longest streak was 34.
05:1915. Eighty-seven consecutive wins – Julio César Chávez
05:23Sure, Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s career record of 50-0 is impressive,
05:35but it isn't as impressive as 87-0, which was Julio César Chávez's record before
05:41he fought to a draw against Purnell Whitaker in 1993. In February of 1990,
05:45when Buster Douglas shocked the world and ended Mike Tyson's 37-fight win streak,
05:50Chávez was already 68-0, and would go on to win 19 more before that draw.
05:55The decision is a majority decision draw.
06:01A draw, and you can see the reaction of Sweet Pea Whitaker. He can't believe it,
06:06and frankly, I can't either.
06:08These days, most boxers don't have more than 50 or so fights in their career,
06:12let alone win them all as Mayweather did, which makes Chávez's record feel extra safe.
06:1814. 1,406 Stolen Bases – Ricky Henderson
06:23While the Stolen Base isn't a big part of the Major League game these days,
06:26that definitely was not always the case. Up until the turn of the century,
06:30the Stolen Base was a very important part of the game,
06:33and Ricky Henderson is the greatest player to ever do it.
06:38He stole it! The American League record for Ricky Henderson!
06:44Henderson played 25 years from 1979 to 2005, and led the league in Stolen Bases 12 times.
06:50He ended his career with 1,406 of them, which is almost 500 more than Lou Brock,
06:56who sits in second place. Now, maybe with the slightly bigger bases and the new limits on
07:01throws to first base, steals will begin to rise. But they'll never rise to Henderson's level again.
07:0713. 208 Career Touchdowns – Jerry Rice
07:21When it comes to wide receivers and NFL records,
07:23Jerry Rice could be a complete list all by himself. From receptions to receiving yards,
07:28Rice had more in his career than any other player in history.
07:32It's almost a consensus that the best wide receiver in football is number 80, Jerry Rice.
07:36Some wide receivers can catch it deep, some can catch it short,
07:39some can catch intermediate routes, some guys are possession receivers,
07:43but Jerry Rice can do it all.
07:44But the unbreakable record we wanted to focus on here was his career touchdown mark of 208,
07:50an impressive number made even more so because of the era in which Rice played,
07:54which unlike today, didn't have the same strict rules against certain
07:58defensive plays and protection for quarterbacks.
08:00Highway 101 belongs to Jerry Rice, next exit, Hall of Fame, as Jerry Rice
08:07stands all alone as number one in pro football history in touchdown reception.
08:13But even with this being what some might call a golden age of receiving,
08:16Rice still stands over 100 TDs ahead of Devontae Adams, who is the highest among active players
08:23with 95. 12. 11 NBA Championships – Bill Russell
08:28Bill Russell played 13 seasons in the NBA for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969.
08:34For all his accolades, one aspect of his transcendent career stands out.
08:39He has more titles to his credit than any other player in NBA history.
08:44And during those 13 years, not only was he one of the most dominant players in the league,
08:49but there were also only two seasons in which he didn't win the championship.
08:53And one of those years, his Celtics lost in the finals.
08:56So he only missed going to the finals one time.
08:59Add to that a stretch of eight championships in a row,
09:02and Russell's 11 wins is as safe as safe can be.
09:05Russell is the greatest winner of all time, the most valuable player of all time,
09:13and no one can equal his record of 11 championships in 13 years.
09:18Michael Jordan would have needed two more three-peats to surpass Russell's ring count.
09:23That's air even Jordan could never reach.
09:26Number 11.
09:26427 weeks at number one.
09:29Novak Djokovic.
09:30In case you didn't realize that this century you've been watching three
09:34of the three best tennis players to ever play the game,
09:37allow us to give you some number one numbers.
09:39Oh, stop it!
09:42Novak Djokovic, what are you doing?
09:46That is outrageous!
09:49Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic all have 20 or more Grand Slam titles.
09:55Numbers we are not likely to ever see again.
09:58But Nadal is the only player to ever be world number one in three separate decades.
10:02Federer spent a record 237 straight weeks at number one,
10:06and Djokovic has held the top spot 427 times as of the last week of May 2024.
10:12One of the most difficult things to do in our sport, obviously, you know,
10:16winning Grand Slams and being number one in the world are probably the pinnacles of the sport.
10:20There's more likely to be 427 more seasons of Grey's Anatomy than for
10:25any player to reach that many weeks at number one again.
10:28Number 10.
10:2918 major titles.
10:30Jack Nicklaus.
10:32After Tiger Woods won his 14th major, there were probably a lot of people in 2008 who were pretty
10:38confident that it was only a matter of time before he surpassed Jack Nicklaus on the all-time majors
10:42leaderboard.
10:4318. Say the number to any golf fan in the world and they know what it represents.
10:48The unsurpassed major championship victory total of Jack Nicklaus.
10:52But here we are over 15 years later, and Woods sits at 15 titles,
10:56and Nicklaus's record seems safer than ever.
10:59There are some great players out there winning majors, but that's the problem.
11:03They're all winning them.
11:04If Tiger couldn't surpass the Golden Bear, then we're pretty sure no one ever will.
11:08With typical humility, he insists that his record will someday be broken,
11:13but Jack Nicklaus's major championship presence will always stand the test of time.
11:17Number 9.
11:182,632 consecutive games played.
11:22Cal Ripken Jr.
11:23Can you think of something you've done consistently for over 16 years?
11:27A moment that will live for 2,131 years.
11:34We will never see anything like this again.
11:37Well, Cal Ripken Jr. can, because from May 30th, 1982 to September 19th,
11:431998, Ripken played in every single baseball game for the Baltimore Orioles.
11:48In 1995, he broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 games,
11:53and with the 501 he added onto it, this thing will stand tall forever.
11:58Let it be said that number 8, Cal Ripken Jr. has reached the unreachable star.
12:05Especially given all the emphasis on load management and
12:07athletes getting rest throughout the long season.
12:10Exhibit A.
12:10Witt Merrifield's 553-game streak, which is the longest streak that began since 2010,
12:16spanning four years from June 25th, 2018 to July 10th, 2022.
12:22Number 8.
12:23104 total pole positions.
12:25Lewis Hamilton.
12:27Michael Schumacher is one of the greatest F1 drivers ever,
12:30and in his 308 races, he earned the pole position an impressive 68 times.
12:35Or at least that was an impressive number until Lewis Hamilton came
12:38along and blew it away with his 104 poles.
12:41Wow, was that fast!
12:43You done it, mate.
12:46That was an epic burst, that.
12:47And as of 2024, Hamilton is still racing and could see even more pole positions in his future.
12:54While Max Verstappen seems to be winning everything these days,
12:57he stands about 65 poles behind the leader,
12:59and would need to pole in 44% of his next 147 entries to match Hamilton's totals,
13:06which is a whole lot more than the 20% average he currently enjoys.
13:10It feels like an out-of-body experience.
13:11I feel like I'm back here watching this going on.
13:14It's not really happening.
13:15This record is Hamilton's to keep.
13:18Number 7.
13:19Three World Cups.
13:20Pelé.
13:21Soccer fans today might just assume that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo hold
13:25every record in the sport.
13:26But as older fans know, there was a guy named Pelé from Brazil who
13:30might just be the greatest to ever play the game, and has a few records to his name as well.
13:35Pelé, real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento,
13:38is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever exponents of the sport.
13:42He helped become known as the beautiful game.
13:44This includes his almost unbreakable record of three World Cup championships.
13:49Even more impressive is the fact that only three countries have more World Cup trophies
13:53than Pelé does.
13:54Brazil won the right to keep the Jules Rimet trophy after winning it for the third time,
13:59and Pelé's FIFA World Cup career ended on a high.
14:03So if it's almost unheard of for a country to win three,
14:06especially within the span of any player's career,
14:08then how is any one player going to win that many, let alone a fourth to break the record?
14:13It's not going to happen.
14:15Number 6.
14:1618,355 Career Rushing Yards.
14:19Emmitt Smith.
14:20Walter Payton's 16,726 career rushing yards might have looked unreachable when he retired in 1987.
14:27But three years later, a guy named Emmitt Smith made his debut in the NFL and started
14:31rushing towards the record, eventually amassing a career total of 18,355 yards on the ground.
14:38When he took that football field, it was like he turned into Superman.
14:42He was an incredible talent.
14:43And why won't this record also be broken?
14:46Because the game has changed.
14:47It's much more of a passing league than it's ever been.
14:50And while quarterback stats have continued to rise, running back stats have gone down.
14:55That should do it!
14:57Emmitt Smith has eclipsed Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time rushing leader.
15:02And somewhere, sweetness is smiling.
15:07The torch is passed!
15:10Long live the king!
15:11Also, Smith played for 14 seasons,
15:14something most players, let alone running backs, don't do very often these days.
15:18Especially at a level high enough to rack up so many yards.
15:22Number 5.
15:232,857 Career Points.
15:26Wayne Gretzky.
15:27Wayne Gretzky is another one of those athletes who can have an entire list like this all to himself.
15:32Upon his retirement in 1999, the Great One held 61 NHL records.
15:38He retired with a mind-boggling 2,857 points.
15:42No one else has eclipsed 2,000.
15:46He holds or shares dozens of NHL records, many of which appear unbreakable.
15:51And today, over two decades later, he still holds 58 of them.
15:55One of those records that stands out from the crowd is his career points total of 2,857.
16:01Yes, it looks like Alex Ovechkin has a good chance of surpassing Gretzky's career goals
16:05record of 894, but Ovi is still 1,300 total points behind Gretzky.
16:11Not only is Gretzky the only player to ever score more than 2,000 points,
16:15but his 1,963 career assists are more than any other player's total career points.
16:22Even if he had never scored a goal, Gretzky's 1,963 assists
16:27would rank above all other players in career points.
16:302,857 is here to stay.
16:344.
16:35683 Weeks World No. 1 – Tiger Woods
16:39Tiger Woods will probably never surpass Jack Nicklaus for the most majors,
16:42but there are plenty of records that Woods will likely hold forever.
16:46These include his time spent as World No. 1.
16:52We're talking 683 total weeks.
17:07And if that number sounds huge, it is.
17:09Only three golfers have ever spent a full calendar year at No. 1.
17:14And while Nick Feldo and Greg Norman each did it once, Tiger did it eight times in the aughts.
17:19His 683 weeks is 352 more than second-place Norman.
17:24And his record streak of 281 consecutive weeks
17:27is more than any golfer's career total besides Norman.
17:30Between 1998 and 2005, Woods also made 142 straight cuts,
17:36another record that we think is pretty safe as well.
17:39That was just another Tiger moment.
17:413.
17:42511 Wins – Cy Young
17:45Cy Young isn't just the name of the award given to the best pitcher in each league.
17:49The award is named after a former pitcher,
17:51a pitcher who won 511 games throughout his career from 1890 through 1911.
17:57That's right, this is a record that stood from pretty much the beginning of the sport
18:02and will forever.
18:03With health concerns and Moneyball analytics,
18:06they just don't pitch as many games or as many innings within games.
18:10Only seven pitchers had 20 win seasons between 2017 and 2023,
18:15whereas a couple of decades ago, it wasn't uncommon to have six in one year.
18:20This also means Young's 749 complete games is also safe.
18:24The active leader on that front is Justin Verlander with a paltry 26.
18:292.
18:3015,806 Career Assists – John Stockton
18:34If it wasn't for John Stockton,
18:36Jason Kidd could have seen his name atop a couple of NBA records lists.
18:40But alas, when Jason Kidd ended his playing career in 2013,
18:43his 2,684 steals and 12,091 assists left him far behind the aforementioned Stockton.
18:50A new NBA assists king, John Stockton!
18:54Stockton played all of his 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz,
18:57and the team made the playoffs every year.
19:00They also reached their only two NBA finals in that time,
19:03losing both times to Michael Jordan's Bulls.
19:06But while he never got a ring,
19:08he stands 600 steals and over 3,000 assists ahead of second place.
19:12But the way Stockton plays the game forces him out of the dark
19:15and into the bright lights of stardom.
19:18Last night, the NBA's all-time assists leader became the league's all-time leader in steal.
19:23And when it comes to the assists, we don't see anyone ever catching him.
19:27Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
19:30and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
19:33You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
19:37If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
19:431. 23 Olympic Gold Medals – Michael Phelps
19:48When it comes to domination,
19:50no athlete has ever dominated their sport like Michael Phelps.
19:54But Phelps' records don't just stand above all swimmers.
19:57They're also tops among every other athlete to ever compete in the Olympics.
20:10Before Phelps showed up,
20:11the record for most career Olympic gold medals was nine.
20:15And it was held by four different people.
20:17At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Phelps won six.
20:21Then in 2008, he competed in eight events and won eight gold medals.
20:25But he wasn't done yet.
20:26In 2012, he won four.
20:29And in 2016, he took home five more.
20:32Phelps' 23 gold medals is more than any other athlete's.
20:42His reign as the gold medal king should last longer than Queen Elizabeth's.
20:48Which of these records are you most confident will never be eclipsed?
20:52Let us know in the comments.
20:53What was once thought as an unbreakable record has just been broken by 38-year-old LeBron James.
21:00Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.
21:04And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.