Jackson starred for Seattle Storm from 2001 to 2010 before injuries interrupted her final two years there as they did the final few years of her career, which officially ended with her retirement in 2016.

Jackson’s Storm teams won most of their games and Jackson was a ruthless scorer and performer with her PER [Player Efficiency Rating] for 2007 of 35.04 the highest ever recorded in NBA or WNBA history. Wilt Chamberlain’s 31.82 in 1962-63 is the best in the men’s league.

Speaking from home where she was giving baby son Harrison his bottle, Jackson was humbled and surprised to have been placed on the list.

“It’s bizarre. I look up to pretty much every athlete on that list so to be on it is mind blowing,” Jackson said.

“An element of this is that I’ve been out of it for so long now that my career seems like a different lifetime and there is no planet in this universe where I would have thought I’d be on that list so I’m eternally grateful and humbled to be on it.”

Jackson and James were the only basketballers on the list.

Although surfing wasn’t considered, due to not having a large enough commercial imprint, ESPN senior writer Peter Keating listed Australian great Layne Beachley as someone dominant in that sport who could have otherwise been considered.

The WNBA still has its detractors, who complain either about it being inferior to the NBA or it not paying high enough wages compared to more prosperous European or Chinese clubs.

But Jackson said she always held her WNBA years in the highest regard and was grateful the league provided somewhere for the best players in the world to face off.

“Just being on this list solidifies how much this league meant to me as a player,” Jackson said.

“That is the one thing that made the WNBA so important for my career because it’s the best league in the world.

“I knew if I became one of the best players in that league then I would be regarded highly worldwide and that reflected in my wage in Europe and wherever else I played.”

Injuries hit Jackson, 36, hard in her final years and she knows her numbers could have been stronger if she could have remained on the court.

“We made playoffs every single year I played over there and it was only when I got injured that I was held back,” Jackson said.

“I don’t have any negative feelings towards my WNBA career but in terms of injuries I feel like I could have achieved so much more. I mean could still be playing if my body would have let me.

“But in terms of recognition - it’s nice after you have been retired so long that people still remember you.”

In recent years Jackson has been working for WNBL club Melbourne Boomers as assistant general manager, helping run the club which last season finished runner-up in the league.

Now she is an administrator, Jackson has a whole new view on professional sport and she is happy women’s sports are starting to receive greater coverage.

The ESPN Magazine Dominant 20: 1. Tiger Woods (golf), 2. LeBron James (NBA), 3. Peyton Manning (NFL), 4. Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR), 5. Roger Federer (tennis), 6. Annika Sorenstram (golf), 7. Michael Schumacher (Formula 1), 8. Floyd Mayweather (boxing), 9. Marta (soccer), 10. Usain Bolt (athletics), 11. Lionel Messi (soccer), 12. Serena Williams (tennis), 13. Lauren Jackson (WNBA), 14. Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer), 15. Novak Djokovic (tennis), 16. Allyson Felix (athletics), 17. Barry Bonds (baseball), 18. Mike Trout (baseball), 19. Manny Pacquiao (boxing), 20. Tom Brady (NFL).