A person’s genetics and family heritage can be absolutely massive in determining whether or not they can become a pro athlete. While this is true, a ton of some of the best athletes of all time have siblings who just couldn’t capitalize on their genetics as much, here are five of them.
1. Seth Curry
(source: sacbee.com)
Yes, the reigning back top back NBA MVP and the best shooter in the league also had a brother who plays in the pros. In fact, Seth played at a bigger school than Steph and put up some respectable numbers. He went undrafted but has been on various NBA teams and currently plays for the Sacramento Kings. Their father, Dell Curry, was also a great NBA player in the 80’s and 90’s.
2. Brent Gretzky
(source: highonhockey.com)
Wayne Gretzky is without a doubt the best player in NHL history and one of the most dominant athletes of all time in any sport. He still holds a laundry list of NHL records, some of which are likely to never be broken. Brent was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning for a few games, but eventually went on to play pro hockey for various other leagues after fizzling out of the NHL. And while Brent didn’t have much of a career, the two still have more points than any other siblings in NHL history, with Wayne contributing 2857 points and Brent helping out with 4.
3. Billy Ripken
(source: foxsports.com)
Cal Ripken will go down in history as one of the most productive and tough players in MLB history. He was the inspiration for bigger and more powerful shortstops that we saw in the 2000’s and onward. Cal’s brother, Billy Ripken, didn’t have nearly the career that Cal did, but still had a fairly decent 10+ year stint in the majors. Billy and Cal were actually teammates and played second base and shortstop respectively, being only the fourth siblings of all time to do that in the 100+ year history of the majors.
4. Ralf Schumacher
(source: autoevolution.com)
Michael Schumacher is without a doubt one of the most talented and successful racers in F1 history and was a 7 time champion. He is often regarded as one of the best drivers of all time and holds numerous records. What most people don’t know about Michael is that he also has a brother who also raced F1. His brother, Ralf, also was a successful racer who has won his fair share of races, despite not being as successful as Michael was. These brothers also share the honor of being the only siblings to have won races in F1.
5. Mack Robinson
(source: a.alumni.ucla.edu)
Jackie Robinson is one of the most important players in the history of baseball as he was the first African-American player in the major leagues in the modern era. He had a great 10 year career in the majors and opened up the doors for the multicultural MLB that we have today. His brother, Mack Robinson, was also an extremely successful and talented athlete, who got much less attention than Jackie. Mack is an Olympic runner and won the silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 200m race and had set various junior college records during his college days.
