20th-century African-American sportspeople

Algernod Lanier Washington (born July 1, 1976), better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is the founder of Big Gates Records. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Washington was a wide receiver on the football team of Miami University in Ohio in 1996 and 1997 before he became a rapper. After dropping out of college, he founded Big Gates with his stepbrother. Signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, from 2007 to 2008 he released three albums. Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with successful singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies also released two albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList, and later released Goon Affiliated in 2010.

Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (born Floyd Joy Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American professional boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He competed between 1996 and 2015, and made a one-fight comeback in 2017. During his career he won fifteen major world titles including The Ring in five weight classes, the lineal championship in four weight classes (twice at welterweight), and retired with an undefeated record. As an amateur, Mayweather won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships (at light flyweight, flyweight, and featherweight), and the U.S. national championship at featherweight.

Terrell Eldorado Owens (born December 7, 1973), nicknamed T.O., is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. A six-time Pro Bowl selection and five-time first-team All-Pro, Owens holds or shares several NFL records. He ranks third in career receiving yards at 15,934 and third in receiving touchdowns at 153.

Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975), nicknamed "the Answer" and "AI", is an American former professional basketball player. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iverson was an 11-time NBA All-Star, won the All-Star game MVP award in 2001 and 2005, and was the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2001. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Pamela Donielle Oliver (born March 10, 1961) is an American sportscaster known for her work on the sidelines for various National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) games.

Matthew Rush (born Gregory Andrew Grove on September 22, 1972) is an American gay pornographic film actor, magazine model, and a bodybuilder and personal trainer. He has competed at the Gay Games in Amsterdam and Sydney.

Jacqueline DeLois Moore (born January 6, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. She is best known for her time in WWE (known as the World Wrestling Federation until 2002) from 1998 to 2004, as well as working for World Championship Wrestling in 1997-98 and later Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a wrestler, manager and road agent.

James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is an American former professional football player, sports analyst and actor. He was a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he had shattered most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.

Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon (born December 8, 1965) is a retired American basketball player who played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.

Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who is a studio analyst for The NBA on TNT. He is a two-time NBA All-Star. He was drafted with the third overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He also played in the NBA for the New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. Davis played college basketball for UCLA, where he was an All-American honoree before turning professional after his sophomore year. He was a star high school player while at Crossroads School.