ESPN: LeBron is the 2nd most famous athlete in the world

[Im Still Ballin]

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/15685581/espn-world-fame-100

Pipped only by Ronaldo!

Hollywood James!

[bigkingsfan]

Kobe left out top 10 again. :yaohappy:

[Im Still Ballin]

Kobe left out top 10 again. :yaohappy:
:roll: :roll: :roll:

[oarabbus]

I don't believe for a second that LeBron is more famous than Messi. I'm pretty sure everyone who knows who Ronaldo is, knows who Messi is. Quite impressive to LeBron to be #3 though.

[Jacks3]

Durant is more popular than Bryant worldwide? Not sure about that.

[Im Still Ballin]

We started off with the Forbes' list of the 100 highest-paid athletes, then sought input from ESPN journalists to add other notable athletes. ESPN director of sports analytics Ben Alamar created a formula that combined athletes' salary/winnings and endorsements with their social media following -- Facebook, Twitter and Instagram -- along with Google search popularity to create a comparative ranking system.

Salary and endorsement figures for athletes were for the 2015 or 2015-2016 seasons. Endorsement data was compiled by ESPN researchers. NFL salary figures count only the previous season's salary, plus any bonuses paid out in 2015 (they do not match the salary-cap figures for the year).

Recently retired stars Kobe Bryant, Marshawn Lynch and Peyton Manning were included on the list because they played in 2015 and/or 2016.

The Facebook, Twitter and Instagram numbers were as of May 12, 2016. Google Trend scores, on a scale of 0-100, measure the relative popularity of players based on how often they are searched.
The method

[Prime_Shaq]

Is Steven Adams #1?

[Im Still Ballin]

KoWhoBe?

[Im Still Ballin]

Bran and Kevin aka...


The top 6 family.
Damn DOG

Loving that new avy!

[sd3035]

Durant more famous than Tiger Woods? :roll:

[raprap]

Whobe?

[sd3035]

Deron Williams above Tim Duncan?

[sd3035]

Rousey above Mayweather? :roll:

[Prime_Shaq]

Bran and Kevin aka...


The top 6 family.
Where the **** is your Steven Adams avy

[ballinhun8]

Another created formula.



These guys never stop

[Achilleas]

lol you trust espn for worldwide,the best sport is football
messi and ronaldo are the 2 famous athlete,i don't think many outside of usa and canada know any players from american sports except nba
nfl,baseball,nhl,ufc in europe nobody cares
football stays winning :rockon: :banana:

[FKAri]

Penaldo is #1?

[Sarcastic]

Who the fck is Virat Kohli, and there is no way he is top 10.

[ncrizzle]

Everying Espn puts out is LeGit...

[GeeWiz]

Who the fck is Virat Kohli, and there is no way he is top 10.

You understand the world is bigger than just the USA right?

[imdaman99]

No wonder ESPN losing millions of subscribers every year, they have their lips wrapped around bran :oldlol:

[Mr Feeny]

Kobe left out top 10 again. :yaohappy:

:roll:

[fourkicks44]

Durant more famous than Tiger Woods? :roll:

To be fair Tiger aint won shit in a decade.

I'm surprised Usain Bolt isn't top 3.

However I call bullshit, no way is Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr more famous tha Lewis Hamilton, that is utter crap.

[Lebron23]

Tiger Woods is a has been. He's now more famous with his sexcapades than his golfing skills.

[34-24 Footwork]

To be fair Tiger aint won shit in a decade.

I'm surprised Usain Bolt isn't top 3.

However I call bullshit, no way is Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr more famous tha Lewis Hamilton, that is utter crap.


This post discouraged me from reading the article. Lol @ Nascar rednecks being more famous than culture icons. Wtf.

[Sarcastic]

You understand the world is bigger than just the USA right?


Yes, but regardless there is no way a cricketeer is top 10 most famous athlete, ahead of people like Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, or Novak Djokovic.

[GeeWiz]

Yes, but regardless there is no way a cricketeer is top 10 most famous athlete, ahead of people like Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, or Novak Djokovic.

I agree with you, but the list has Rudy Gay in the top 100 and Dwight Howard above Conor McGregor, that should help you understand how dumb this list is

[fourkicks44]

Yes, but regardless there is no way a cricketeer is top 10 most famous athlete, ahead of people like Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, or Novak Djokovic.

There are ALOT of people in India.

But like I said the list is utter crap.

[34-24 Footwork]

I agree with you, but the list has Rudy Gay in the top 100 and Dwight Howard above Conor McGregor, that should help you understand how dumb this list is

:biggums: :biggums: :biggums:

[SpaceJam]

LMAO this list has got to have some sort of USA bias to it, some of these got me shaking my head

[Meticode]

Durant more famous than Tiger Woods? :roll:
It's amazing what shitty golf-play, injuries, and f*cking around on a beautiful wife + kid does to an image.

[theaussieguy]

lmao that list is a fukking joke, surprised at usain bolt only being at 15?? and how the hell is lillard more known that westbrook? that is very very hard to believe

[Meticode]

I think it's funny we read and post any list that ESPN publishes.

[SpaceJam]

I think it's funny we read and post any list that ESPN publishes.

They're always good for a laugh

[Im Still Ballin]

You guys sound like conspiracy theorists

It's ESPN

The most renowned NBA media outlet in the world!

[Gileraracer]

It's ESPN - the biggest Lebron dickrider fam in the world. What did you expect?

[SexSymbol]

1.Jordan
2.Messi
3.Kobe
4.LeBron
5.Curry
6.Ronaldo
7.Rose
8.Federer
9.Durant
10.Woods

[KobesFinger]

1.Jordan
2.Messi
3.Kobe
4.LeBron
5.Curry
6.Ronaldo
7.Rose
8.Federer
9.Durant
10.Woods

You think that the most popular sport in the world only has 2 players in the most popular athletes in the world? And is that Derrick Rose in the top 10? :oldlol:

[lakers_forever]

1.Jordan
2.Messi
3.Kobe
4.LeBron
5.Curry
6.Ronaldo
7.Rose
8.Federer
9.Durant
10.Woods

:roll:

If you have Jordan, there where are Pele and Maradona?

If we count retired players, than the top 10 would be basically 8 soccer players (Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo - portuguese-, Ronaldo -Brazilian-, Ronaldinho, Zidane and Beckham - these are the most famous IMO) with Jordan and Ali.


ESPN list is a joke. Messi is miles ahead of Lebron. Lebron is virtually unknown in South America (besides within the upper class) and I bet it is the same in Africa and in the Middle East. Some poor boy from the countryside has never heard of Lebron, but plays football in the street pretending to be Ronaldo or Messi.

Durant at 6th? :oldlol: I'm willing to bet 99% of South Americans have never heard of him. Forget soccer. How the hell is he more famous than Mayweather, Phelps, Bolt, Nadal and F1 drivers?

BTW, the top 100 has more NBA than soccer players. :oldlol: :roll: :lol

[Hey Yo]

lol you trust espn for worldwide,the best sport is football
messi and ronaldo are the 2 famous athlete,i don't think many outside of usa and canada know any players from american sports except nba
nfl,baseball,nhl,ufc in europe nobody cares
football stays winning :rockon: :banana:
LOL @ Soccer. You guys can have it. I'm surprised Messi and Ronaldo have lived this long. Every other week a fan, player or ref is getting killed. Stadiums burnt to the ground.....sounds fun ...haha

[aj1987]

Yes, but regardless there is no way a cricketeer is top 10 most famous athlete, ahead of people like Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, or Novak Djokovic.
:oldlol:

Those dudes are popular in countries with small populations. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh alone have a combined population of nearly 2B and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't know Kohli.

[ArbitraryWater]

You guys are complaining like its an opinion... its based on marketing, google searches, social media following, etc. includes all the factors.

THATS THE LIST, BOY

And the GOAT tops it, of course.

I dont need to know who Kohli is, but I believe the list. Its FACTZ

[ArbitraryWater]

I think it's funny we read and post any list that ESPN publishes.


devised a formula that combines salary and endorsements with social media following and Google search popularity to create the ESPN World Fame 100 rankings.

its legit :cheers:

Nadal over Kobe with not even half as much hype/marketing :lol :bowdown:

[toprange]

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/15685581/espn-world-fame-100

Pipped only by Ronaldo!

Hollywood James!
Because everyone around the world is preparing to witness 2/7 :oldlol: :roll:

[fragokota]

Who the **** are # 8,13,14? We're talking truly global superstars here, not regional ones. Messi, Ronaldo are definitely #1,2 and Kobe is higher than KD.

[theaussieguy]

kobe has effectively been retired for 3 years so its not surprising skeletor is above him

[Im Still Ballin]

Kobe was really never that popular

He always stat-padded his numbers in china

Even they don't know how many people live there

[fragokota]

Kobe was really never that popular

He always stat-padded his numbers in china

Even they don't know how many people live there

He was huge, he still is. You can't be serious about KD being a more recognizeable figure than Kobe.

[Im Still Ballin]

Dude is a third world country stat padder

Also is huge with the mexican cholo crowd

Another unconfirmed rapidly growing demographic

Dude is engineering his fame

[Boogaboog]

I don't believe for a second that LeBron is more famous than Messi. I'm pretty sure everyone who knows who Ronaldo is, knows who Messi is. Quite impressive to LeBron to be #3 though.

Yeah, I don't believe that either.

1. Ronaldo
2. Messi
3. LeBron

[scuzzy]

Dude is a third world country stat padder

Also is huge with the mexican cholo crowd

Another unconfirmed rapidly growing demographic

Dude is engineering his fame
:lol

True True

Can confirm, worked in Anaslime and ever since they found out Kobe speaks spanish the chola's n cholo's have been rocking 8 jerseys under their button up flannels n dickies

[Boogaboog]

Also, no way Durant is #6. That's a complete joke. :oldlol: Doesn't even belong in the top 50.

[zizozain]

Tiger Woods is a has been. He's now more famous with his sexcapades than his golfing skills.
:wtf:

[Im Still Ballin]

:lol

True True

Can confirm, worked in Anaslime and ever since they found out Kobe speaks spanish the chola's n cholo's have been rocking 8 jerseys under their button up flannels n dickies
:roll:

BOSS TRUE!

[bigkingsfan]

KD 2015 Yearly Endorsement Earnings: $35,000,000

More than Messi, Ronaldo, Kobe...

[aj1987]

Who the **** are # 8,13,14? We're talking truly global superstars here, not regional ones. Messi, Ronaldo are definitely #1,2 and Kobe is higher than KD.
#8 and #14 are 2 of the most popular cricket players of all time.

[Xiengqichess]

Asian don't know shit about Lebron or Durant. Their favorite are Rolnaldo, Messi, Kobe, Federer, Pacquiao...

[KiiiiNG]

I knew Durant was more popular than you retards let on. 6th most popular athlete on the planet! Curry isn't even top 30 hahaha

[KiiiiNG]

Also, no way Durant is #6. That's a complete joke. :oldlol: Doesn't even belong in the top 50.
You're not in touch AT ALL. STFU moron... the facts speak for themselves

[warriorfan]

You're not in touch AT ALL. STFU moron... the facts speak for themselves

what a meltdown

[Hoopz2332]

Asian don't know shit about Lebron or Durant. Their favorite are Rolnaldo, Messi, Kobe, Federer, Pacquiao...


LeBron James is the Most Popular Western Celebrity on Chinese Social Media

[quote]nfographic: LeBron James is the Most Popular Western Celebrity on Chinese Social Media

Synthesio, a global social-media monitoring company, has created an infographic to tell us who are the top 25 most popular western celebrities on Chinese social media. It listened to the top 50 celebrities from Forbes

[Euroleague]

ESPN is such a freaking joke....

[Smoke117]

Number 1 in all the fakkots heads here.

[ImKobe]

LeBron James is the Most Popular Western Celebrity on Chinese Social Media



http://mashable.com/2013/03/16/celebrities-chinese-social-media/#bRguZ.8bxgqa

^^2013




http://i.imgur.com/ss5Zii1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Auez791.png

http://i.imgur.com/GzadqYQ.png

http://i.imgur.com/9TcAEoe.png

http://i.imgur.com/tlcqe2h.jpg

2013 lol?

there was an article on ESPN around the same time they made the "most famous athlete in the world" where it said that Kobe was the most famous athlete in China, 110 million people alone in China watched Kobe's last game

[Hoopz2332]

2013 lol?

there was an article on ESPN around the same time they made the "most famous athlete in the world" where it said that Kobe was the most famous athlete in China, 110 million people alone in China watched Kobe's last game


On a trip with LeBron James through China - Insight into king's life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJzhvwHe-tI

LeBron James from Miami to China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8JpXVVnH54

[bobopenguin]

On a trip with LeBron James through China - Insight into king's life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJzhvwHe-tI

LeBron James from Miami to China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8JpXVVnH54

there's only one king in china, that's kobe.

[Hoopz2332]

https://i.imgsafe.org/4e0651d57d.jpg