Posted December. 01, 2009 08:24,
Star athletes are rich and sexy. So they cannot help but lead a colorful love life surrounded by beautiful women.
The British daily Independent recently ranked the greatest playboys in sports, placing the late soccer striker George Best at the top of the list.
Best joined Manchester United in 1963 at age 17. He soon gained a reputation for his sexual exploits as well as his outstanding performance on the field. He once said he had sex at halftime of a game.
When rumors spread that Best slept with seven women who had won the Miss World title, he said he had sex with only three of them. After a lifetime of drug abuse and two divorces, Best died at age 59 in 2005.
Fellow United alumni David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo wore No. 7 like Best did at Old Trafford, and are also known as sex symbols. Beckham had an affair with his assistant and faced a crisis with his wife Victoria. They ultimately reconciled.
Ronaldo said he once simultaneously dated three older women. Along with his teammates, he even claimed to invite prostitutes to hold a sex party.
In the NBA, rebounding fanatic Dennis Rodman can also be considered one of the greatest playboys in sports. Leading the league in rebounds for seven straight seasons, he dated pop singer Madonna in 1994 but later married Baywatch actress Carmen Electra. He even named his boat Sexual Chocolate.
Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was charged with raping a 19-year-old girl in Colorado in 2003. The criminal case was later dropped and Bryant and the girl reached an out-of-court settlement, but he admitted to having sex with his accuser.
To make amends with his wife Vanessa, he gave her a diamond ring worth four million U.S. dollars. Bryant had to endure boos from fans for a while and had sponsors drop him.
Michael Jordan had a two-year affair while married and paid the woman 250,000 dollars in hush money. She filed a lawsuit saying she was the mother of Jordans baby, but this was proven false after a paternity test.
In 2006, Jordan ended his 17-year marriage with wife Juanita and gave her 168 million dollars in alimony, the worlds highest figure to date.
In bed and on the court, size does matter. The late center Wilt Chamberlain, a lifelong bachelor, claimed he had sex with 20,000 women in his life. On the assumption that he met one woman per day, he would have had to have sex every day for 60 years for his claim to be valid.
In baseball, pitcher Roger Clemens had been known for staying faithful to his wife, who bore him four sons. But the Rocket Man shocked fans last year by admitting to a decade-long affair with a country singer.
Reports last year said Alex Rodriguez had an affair with pop singer Madonna, something that both denied, but his wife Cynthia eventually filed for divorce last year. He was also linked to a stripper and prostitutes.
Boxer Mike Tyson served three years in prison in Indiana after being convicted for raping a girl in 1992.