Dancing with the Stars’ all-athletes season: Who’s most likely to win?

(ABC/Craig Sjodin)

LINDSAY ARNOLD, KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lindsay Arnold

Look at that height difference! You know Len Goodman will have comments about their holds basically immediately. Anyway, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a legend in basketball. There’s no denying that, and he’s sure to get some votes based on that alone. But he’s also 70 years old and trying to keep up with athletes in their primes on this season.

Who knows, though? He could end up surprising us.

(The University of Notre Dame via ABC Press)

ARIKE OGUNBOWALE

Arike Ogunbowale and Gleb Savchenko

Arike Ogunbowale is a player for Notre Dame, and she literally just won a national championship in women’s college basketball. (Some scheduling conflicts are probably why she doesn’t have an official photo with her partner, Gleb Savchenko.)

In other words, she’s got the most recent buzz of anyone on this list, and she’s young, which helps, as does the whole making-the-game-winning-shot thing. Gleb’s a fine coach, and he should be able to turn her into a solid competitor.

(ABC/Craig Sjodin)

EMMA SLATER, JOHNNY DAMON

Johnny Damon and Emma Slater

A two-time World Series champion, Johnny Damon has the advantage of being just the second baseball player to ever grace the floor of the ballroom of Dancing with the Stars. He also happened to play for two wildly popular teams when he won those rings — the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

But he’s been retired for about six years at this point, and while those two fanbases’ memories probably haven’t faded, a more casual baseball fan might have trouble remembering him.