- Jan 3 Al Smith, American baseball outfielder and third baseman (3-time MLB All Star; Cleveland Indians), dies at 73
- Jan 6 Fred Taylor, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster (Ohio State University 1959-76; MLB Washington Senators 1950-52), dies at 77
- Jan 15 Steve Gromek, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- Jan 16 (Carl) "Bobo" Olson, American boxer World Middleweight Champion, 1953-55), dies at 73
- Jan 18 Alex Hannum, American Basketball HOF coach (1st ABA, NBA winning coach; ABA C'ship 1969 Oakland Oaks; NBA C'ship 1958 St. Louis Hawks, 1967 Philadelphia 76ers), dies at 78
- Jan 22 John Shea, American 500m/1500m speed skater (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 91
- Jan 23 Paul Aars, American racecar driver (b. 1934)
- Jan 25 Winston Place, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 100; Lancashire CCC, MCC), dies at 87
- Jan 29 Dick 'Night Train' Lane, American Pro Football HOF cornerback (7 x Pro Bowl; 7 x First-team All-Pro; LA Rams, Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions), dies at 74
- Jan 30 Louis Salica, American boxer (NBA World Bantamweight title 1935, 40; Olympic bronze flyweight 1932), dies at 89
- Feb 11 Frankie Crosetti, American baseball shortstop and 3rd base coach (record 17 World Series titles as player and coach; NY Yankees), dies from complications of a fall at 91
- Feb 14 Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1922)
- Feb 16 Walter Winterbottom, England soccer manager (first manager England national football team 1946–62; FA Director of Coaching), dies at 88
- Feb 25 Afaq Hussain, Pakistani cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 1 wicket; Karachi University, Pakistan International Airlines), dies at 62
- Mar 4 Velibor Vasović, Serbian soccer sweeper (32 caps Yugoslavia; Partizan Belgrade, Ajax) and manager (Partizan, PSG, Red Star Belgrade), dies at 62
- Mar 6 Alice Bauer, American golfer (co-founder LPGA), dies of colon cancer at 74
- Mar 6 Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1969)
- Mar 17 Paul Runyan, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1934, 38; Ryder Cup 1933, 35), dies at 93
- Mar 23 Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
- Apr 9 Pat Flaherty, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500, 1956), dies from cancer at 76
- Apr 13 Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver, dies at 73
- Apr 14 Buck Baker, American auto racer (Grand National Series Champion 1956. 57; NASCAR Speedway Div Champion 1952), dies at 83
- Apr 15 Byron "Whizzer" White, American football player and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, dies at 84
- Apr 29 Bob Akin, American industrialist and race car driver (b. 1936)
- May 6 Saleh Selim, Egyptian football midfielder (10 caps; Al-Ahly Cairo SC 354 games) and executive (President Al-Ahly SC 1980-88, 1992-2002), dies at 71
Seattle Slew (1974-2002)
May 7 American racehorse (American Triple Crown 1977), dies at 28
- May 9 Dan Devine, American football coach, dies at 77
- May 12 Erich Kulas, ECW Wrestler (Mass Transit), dies after surgery at 22
- May 13 Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
- May 17 Joe Black, American Negro League and MLB player, dies at 78
- May 17 László Kubala, Hungarian soccer striker (3 caps Hungary, 6 Czechoslovakia, 19 Spain, 4 Catalonia; FC Barcelona 186 games) and manager (Spain 1969–80), dies at 74
Sam Snead (1912-2002)
May 23 American golfer (US Masters 1949, 52, 54; British Open 1946; PGA C'ship 1942, 49, 51; Vardon Trophy x 4), dies of a stroke at 89
Hansie Cronje (1969-2002)
Jun 1 South African cricket batsman and captain (68 Tests, 3,714 runs, 43 wickets; 188 ODIs; life ban for match-fixing 2000), dies in a plane crash at 32
- Jun 17 Fritz Walter, German footballer (1. FC Kaiserslautern) and captain of West Germany, dies at 81
- Jun 17 Willie Davenport, American bobsledder and track athlete (Olympic gold 110m hurdles 1968), dies from a heart attack at 59
Jack Buck (1924-2002)
Jun 18 American sports announcer (St. Louis Cardinals), dies at 77
- Jun 18 Walter Villa, Italian motorcycle road racer (250cc world champion 1974,-76; 350cc 1976; Harley-Davidson), dies from a heart attack at 58
- Jun 20 Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
- Jun 22 Darryl Kile, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1993, 97, 2000; no-hitter 1993; Houston Astros), dies of coronary disease at 33
- Jun 23 Pedro 'El Rockero' Alcazar, Panamanian boxer (b. 1975)
- Jun 26 Jay Berwanger, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (1st Heisman Trophy winner 1935, Chicago), dies from lung cancer at 88
- Jun 30 Pete Gray [Wyshner], American baseball one-armed outfielder (St Louis Browns), dies at 87
Ted Williams (1918-2002)
Jul 5 American Baseball HOF outfielder (last player to bat over .400 in single season; 19 x MLB All Star; AL MVP 1946, 49; Triple Crown 1942, 47 Boston Red Sox), dies at 84
- Jul 7 Bison Dele, American basketball player (b. 1969)
- Jul 19 Spec Shea, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star, World Series 1947; NY Yankees, Washington Sens), dies after heart surgery at 81
- Jul 20 Michalis Kritikopoulos, Greek soccer striker (28 caps; Olympiacos), dies from cardiac arrest at 56
- Jul 24 Gus Tinsley, American College Football Hall of Fame end and coach (All-American 1935, 36; coach LSU 1948-55; NFL: Chicago Cardinals), dies at 87
- Aug 5 Chick Hearn, American basketball broadcaster (called 3,338 LA Lakers games), dies at 85
- Aug 5 Darrell Porter, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 1974, 78-80; World Series MVP 1982), dies of heart failure at 50
Enos Slaughter (1916-2002)
Aug 12 American Baseball HOF right fielder (10 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1942, 46, 56, 58; St. Louis Cardinals), dies from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 86
Hoyt Wilhelm (1922-2002)
Aug 23 American Baseball HOF pitcher (8 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1954 NY Giants; no-hitter 1958 Baltimore Orioles; Chicago WS), dies of heart failure at 80
- Aug 26 Bea Barrett, American golfer (Western Open 1938), dies at 85
- Sep 2 Abe Lemons, American basketball coach (Oklahoma City Uni, Pan American Uni; NABC Coach of the Year 1978 Uni of Texas Austin), dies from Parkinson's disease at 79
- Sep 3 Len Wilkinson, English cricket spin bowler (3 Tests, 7 wickets; Lancashire CCC), dies at 85
- Sep 4 Jerome Biffle, American long jumper (Olympic gold, 1952), track coach, and jogging proponent, dies at 74
- Sep 8 Laurie Williams, West Indian cricket all-rounder (15 ODIs, 18 wickets; Jamaica), dies in a car accident at 33
Johnny Unitas (1933-2002)
Sep 11 American NFL quarterback (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers); one of the greats, dies of a heart attack at 69
- Sep 14 Jim Barnes, American basketball center (Olympic gold 1964; #1 overall pick 1964 NBA draft NY Knicks; NBA C'ship 1969 Boston Celtics), dies of a stroke at 61
- Sep 14 Roberto Cavanagh, Argentine polo player (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 87
- Sep 18 Bob Hayes, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 4x100m relay 1964) and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver (3 x Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys), dies of kidney failure at 59
- Sep 18 Mauro Ramos, Brazilian football player (b. 1930)
- Sep 24 Leon Hart, American College Football Hall of Fame end and fullback (Heisman Trophy 1949, Notre Dame), dies at 73
- Sep 24 Mike Webster, American NFL football center, 1974-90, 9X Pro Bowl, 4X Super Bowl champ (Pittsburgh Steelers), dies of a heart attack at 50; 1st former NFL-er diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)player noted to suffer from
- Sep 28 Hartland Molson, Canadian businessman (Molson family), senator and sports executive (Montreal Canadiens), dies at 95
- Sep 30 Arthur Hazlerigg, British peer and cricketer, dies at 92
- Oct 6 Chuck Rayner, Canadian Hockey HOF goaltender (Hart Memorial Trophy 1950; NHL All-Star 1949, 50, 51; New York Americans, New York Rangers), dies from a heart attack at 82
- Oct 8 Jacques Richard, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1952)
- Oct 9 Anwar Hussain, Pakistani cricket batsman (4 Tests, Pakistan's first Test; Karachi, Mumbai, Sind, Northern India), dies at 82
- Oct 12 Audrey Mestre, French diver (b. 1974)
- Oct 17 Aileen Riggin, American diver (Olympic gold 3m springboard 1920, 24), dies at 96
- Oct 17 Fred Scolari, American basketball point guard (NBA All-Star 1952, 53; Washington Capitols; Baltimore Bullets), dies at 80
- Oct 24 Herman Gaviria, Colombian football player (b. 1969)
Richard Harris (1930-2002)
Oct 25 Irish actor (A Man Called Horse, This Sporting Life) and singer ("MacArthur Park"), dies of Hodgkin's disease at 72
- Nov 15 Sohn Kee-chung, Korean athlete and long-distance runner, dies at 90
- Nov 18 Kim Gallagher, American athlete (Olympic silver 800m 1984; bronze 1988), dies of colon cancer at 38
- Nov 19 George Fullerton, South African cricketer (South African keeper-batsman 1947-51), dies at 79
- Nov 22 C. S. Nayudu, Indian cricketer (brother of C K, 11 Tests as leggie), dies at 88
- Dec 1 Dave McNally, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1969-70, 72; World Series 1966, 70; Baltimore Orioles), dies from lung cancer at 60
Roone Arledge (1931-2002)
Dec 5 American sports broadcasting executive (President ABC Sports - Monday Night Football; ABC News), dies of prostate cancer at 71 [1] [2]
- Dec 17 Angelo "Hank" Luisetti, American collegiate basketball forward (Stanford, 1935-38), 1st to use a one-handed shot, dies at 86
- Dec 19 Arthur Rowley, English soccer forward (most goals in English league football, 434 from 619 games; Leicester City, Shrewsbury Town), dies at 76
- Dec 19 Will Hoy, English auto racer (British Touring Car C'ship 1991), dies from a brain tumour at 50