Retirement or Hiatus? Jordan, Lemieux Define Great Comebacks

The Serena Williams comeback story has left tennis fans with a cliffhanger. Any women’s tennis G.O.A.T conversation typically includes Williams’ name near the top. With nothing left to prove, she ended a three-plus-year retirement this summer at the age of 44. The stage doesn’t get much bigger than Wimbledon. 

While Williams turned in a valiant effort against Australian Maya Joint, she lost the first-round match in three sets, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6. However, the Serena Williams return story doesn’t seem like it’s finished just yet, as she is recovering from a knee injury. With the US Open taking place in New York next month, one can’t help wondering if Williams will be included in the women’s draw.  

The list of former standout athletes to come out of retirement is a long one. Many of these comeback stories never amounted to much, while others like Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux, and Michael Phelps showed they still had something left in the tank by putting up solid numbers and winning championships or medals. We highlight five all-time greats who are still talked about years after their second retirement.

Why did Serena Williams come out of retirement?

Back in June, Williams announced she was coming out of retirement. We’re talking about a player with nothing left to prove after reaching G.O.A.T. status with 39 Grand Slam titles between her singles and doubles career. In terms of why now, Williams addressed the topic last month at the Queen's Club in London, noting that daughters Olympia and Adira are getting to see their mother play.

Playing in a Grand Slam event for the first time since the 2022 US Open, top sports betting sites had Williams listed as a +120 underdog to win the match against Joint.

Sure, a win would’ve been the better outcome, but Americans clearly are still big fans of Williams, as the match delivered record viewership on ESPN. 

At the moment, it’s too soon to say if Williams will be another one of those great post-retirement comeback stories due to the knee injury. The social media message she shared with fans makes it sound like this is not going to be a one-and-done story. 

“All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you.” 

The US Open tennis tournament, which is part of the 2026 ultimate summer sports betting calendar, is taking place August 23-September 13. 

Mario Lemieux - Pittsburgh Penguins 

Nicknamed “Super Mario,” Lemieux is still considered one of the elite NHL players, and his six scoring titles and three MVP awards back it up. He might’ve had a little something to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins raising Lord Stanley’s Cup during the 1991 and ‘92 seasons. However, one of “Le Magnifique’s” greatest challenges came off the ice as he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s in December 1993. 

Lemieux would take the following season off to give his body time to heal, and it seemed to pay off as he earned two more NHL First Team All-Star nods and a pair of  Art Ross Trophies as the NHL scoring leader. Lemieux retired in 1997 due to health reasons, but by December 2000 he suited up once again, this time as player-owner. During his second stint, the Hall of Famer helped Pittsburgh advance to the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals. Lemieux, as Team Canada’s captain, celebrated his squad winning a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Four years later, the book closed on Lemieux’s comeback tour. His 1,723 career points still rank ninth all-time.

Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls

Whenever people start debating the greatest NBA players of all time, Michael Jordan’s name immediately rolls off the tongue along with LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain. When “His Airness” retired the first time in 1993, his Chicago Bulls had completed an NBA championship three-peat and he won three league MVP awards. The reasons why Jordan stepped away from the game seem to vary, but he said at a press conference that “I have nothing more to prove in basketball.” 

Some might recall Jordan briefly giving minor league baseball a try before returning two years later for a second NBA championship run with the Bulls. Chicago 3-peated once again, including the 1995-96 season when they finished 72-10. Combine the two chapters together, and the G.O.A.T. won six NBA titles along with five league MVP awards. His 32,292 career points still rank No. 6 all-time.  

Michael Phelps - USA Swimming

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London were supposed to be the final chapter of Phelps’ legendary swimming career. With 18 gold medals and 22 overall, he was already considered the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. During a press conference, Phelps made it clear that he didn’t want to swim after he turned 30.  He told the gathered media members, “I have achieved what I wanted to achieve.”

Phelps changed his mind and made the 2016 U.S. Olympic team at age 31. For those wondering whether or not it was the right decision, he won another six medals, five of which were gold. Phelps retired again following the Rio games with a grand total of 28 Olympic medals.

George Foreman - World Heavyweight Champion

George Foreman’s boxing career could be compared to a Hollywood movie sequel that gets released decades apart. Both chapters included being crowned world heavyweight champion. The early part of Foreman’s career included winning the heavyweight division gold medal at the 1968 Olympics. He turned pro and won his first heavyweight championship in 1973 via a second-round knockout of Smokin’ Joe Frazier. Big George announced his retirement four years later to become an ordained minister in Houston, where he also founded a youth center. 

Foreman returned to the ring a decade later. By the time 1994 rolled around, the idea of Foreman winning the heavyweight championship at age 45 against a much younger Michael Moorer, who was 26 at the time and had a 35-0 record, seemed crazy. Foreman was crowned IBF and WBA champion. Foreman’s hall-of-fame career concluded with a 76-5 career record with 68 knockouts.  

Kim Clijsters - Tennis 

With the US Open Tennis Championships a little more than a month away, Kim Clijsters’ name belongs in the conversation. The Belgian women’s tennis star stepped away from the game in 2007 so she could start a family. She had already won two WTA Tour Championships and was the 2003 No. 1 ranked player in the world. 

Following a short break from the game, Clijsters made a triumphant 2009 return to tennis, where she ended up winning the US Open singles title as an unranked wild card. She defended the title in the following year and added an Australian Open championship in 2011. The 2017 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee finished with a career record of 654-187. 

Retirement: Are They Really Calling It a Career?

So when a star athlete makes a retirement announcement, do they actually mean it? Serena Williams’ story is just another example of somebody who has nothing left to prove to cement her legacy. The athletes highlighted provide a small sampling that the second chapter of a career can be just as good as the first. As far as athlete retirement stories go, like top musical acts, sometimes a comeback tour is needed to complete the story.