USA TODAY Sports

The sports world is well-represented in Time Magazine's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People, which was released on Thursday.

Six athletes and one baseball executive appear among Time's four categories. On the Icons list: Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, quarterback Colin Kaepernick and FC Barcelona soccer star Neymar. Titans: The Cavs' LeBron James and Patriots QB Tom Brady. Leaders: Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein. Pioneers: UFC fighter Conor McGregor.

Kaepernick's profile was written by his former 49ers coach, Jim Harbaugh, who addresses the quarterback's refusal to stand for the national anthem last season. While Kaepernick was widely criticized for protesting social-justice inequality, Harbaugh praised him for his courage and added, "His willingness to take a position at personal cost is now part of our American story."

Kaepernick is a free agent and remains unsigned.

In one of the more unusual profiles, we learn that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rita Dove is a LeBron James fan.

Dove, a former United States poet laureate, describes his play as you might expect, saying that when LeBron takes flight for a dunk, she is "tempted to call it poetry in motion -- if we agree that poetry can be stormy as well as smooth, thrillingly true yet downright mean as it lures you one way, pivots and drives its point home."

Maybe the most entertaining essay comes from comedian Conan O'Brien, who profiles Brady. O'Brien writes that Brady seemingly came out of nowhere and willed himself to become the best quarterback ever. "When Tom was drafted in the second-to-last round, he was slow and scrawny, and buried on the depth chart below Drew Bledsoe, Michael Bishop and the drummer for the Cars ... He simply refused to be less than the best ever, and no essay by anyone but me is necessary."