TIME magazine released its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and making the list were several sports figures, including Nets C JASON COLLINS, Seahawks CB RICHARD SHERMAN, golfer LYDIA KO, tennis player SERENA WILLIAMS and La Liga club Real Madrid F CRISTIANO RONALDO. Collins is one of four people featured on seperate covers of the issue. CHELSEA CLINTON pens the piece on Collins, her former Stanford classmate, and writes it made "eminent sense that it would be Jason becoming the first openly gay, still active pro athlete in a major US sports league." His "kindness and fierceness alike derive from that word too often bandied about and too rarely true: integrity." Collins has "always maintained he’s first a basketball player." But he also is a "leader and an inspiration." Meanwhile, TIME's SEAN GREGORY discusses Sherman's famous post-NFC Championship game rant, writing it "solidified his reputation as one of the brashest and most candid players in the buttoned-up NFL." It also "sparked a national conversation about race, stereotyping and sportsmanship." Golf HOFer ANNIKA SORENSTAM writes Ko is "responsible for sparking increased interest in our sport not just in her native South Korea and adopted homeland of New Zealand but also among juniors across the globe." She is doing a "fantastic job handling the many responsibilities that accompany stardom." Heat G DWYANE WADE writes there is no doubt that Williams has "made an incredible impact on the world of tennis," but it is her "determination to never give up that has always resonated with me." Former soccer player PELE writes Ronaldo is "one of the most influential athletes" today. Pele writes, "I greatly respect his competitive mind-set on the field, and it's no surprise that he is currently considered the best soccer player in the world" (TIME, 5/5 issue).
