# The 16 Best Farewells in Sports History

> Some walked out on top, some walked out in tears, and one of them did both on the same night.

*By YPB Team · Published August 26, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-16-best-farewells-in-sports-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Kobe Bryant** — score 1000/1000
   Sixty points in his last NBA game, April 2016.
2. **Derek Jeter** — score 856/1000
   A walk-off single in his final home game at Yankee Stadium.
3. **Sachin Tendulkar** — score 719/1000
   A speech at the Wankhede in 2013 that stopped a country.
4. **Shawn Michaels** — score 582/1000
   Lost a career-versus-streak match to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26 and stayed gone.
5. **Bjorn Borg** — score 513/1000
   Quit at 26 with eleven majors and left the tour without a press conference.
6. **Serena Williams** — score 513/1000
   A last US Open run in 2022 that lasted three rounds longer than anyone expected.
7. **The Undertaker** — score 513/1000
   The Final Farewell at Survivor Series in November 2020, thirty years to the night after his debut.
8. **Michael Jordan** — score 434/1000
   The shot against Utah in 1998 that should have been the last thing he ever did in basketball.
9. **John Elway** — score 434/1000
   Retired straight after winning a second consecutive Super Bowl as MVP.
10. **Roger Federer** — score 434/1000
   The Laver Cup doubles match with Rafael Nadal, both of them in tears.
11. **Rocky Marciano** — score 434/1000
   Walked away undefeated at 31 and never came back.
12. **Zinedine Zidane** — score 342/1000
   A World Cup final, a headbutt and a walk past the trophy in 2006.
13. **Pele** — score 233/1000
   Played one half for Santos and one for the Cosmos in the same 1977 exhibition.
14. **Ray Bourque** — score 233/1000
   Traded at 39, won the Stanley Cup in his last game and was handed it first.
15. **David Ortiz** — score 233/1000
   Hit .315 with 38 home runs in his final season at 40.
16. **Lou Gehrig** — score 103/1000
   The luckiest man on the face of the earth, Yankee Stadium, July 1939.

Tags: sports, athletes, legends, retirement