Why isnt James as popular as other athletes worldwide?

[tobethdope]

I don't get these people. Instead of looking at the reputable sources posted above, they keep citing their own worthless opinions as if they're supposed to mean something

endorsement deals mean shit; besides, popular is not the same as famous, he is pretty famous, but not on a kobe-bryant level yet (worldwide)(kobe obviously has the edge timewise here), but he is at the moment probably only 2nd to woods in that category...popularity wise its another deal, he might be the player with the most (player-) fans, but he is generally disliked just like in the US; especially when it comes to fans that follow the leauge

i think americans overestimate how popular their sport-stars are; for example NOBODY but nfl-fans know manning, lebron is way better known, but, speaking for europe, he is not well known, id guess 5-10%, maybe to 15% know him

to emphasize that, he is not even remotely close to the fame of mj, if jordans fame was a pc-game with 100 levels lebron wud barely scratch level 10 by now (obviously time is a factor here), he CUD still reach level 100, but he wont....

[Hoopz2332]

endorsement deals mean shit; besides, popular is not the same as famous, he is pretty famous, but not on a kobe-bryant level yet (worldwide)(kobe obviously has the edge timewise here), but he is at the moment probably only 2nd to woods in that category...popularity wise its another deal, he might be the player with the most (player-) fans, but he is generally disliked just like in the US; especially when it comes to fans that follow the leauge

Another guy ignoring the links I posted. In America, Lebron has haters, post-descision but he's generally not hated like Kobe or the likes of Arod or even Tiger since the scandal.


[b]The Top 10 Most Hated Athletes in American Sports

[moaz]

From someone who lived in 7 countries in 4 continents in the last 22 years:

Everyone and I mean everyone who plays basketball or follows the NBA knows who MJ, LJ and KB are.

For the remaining 98% of the population MJ is known to some of the sports interested 30-50 years old men (back in the 80s- mid 90s you could watch NBA games in free TV, thus many actually watched some games, especially finals).
Kobe is less known thanMJ, but since he has been doing these Turkish Airline commercials with Messi, many actually recognize who he is.

Lebron and the rest of the NBA players are practically non existent for the common man.

Exemption: some of the Facebook generation know who (and what) is Kris Humphries (formerly called kardashian).

[tobethdope]

[QUOTE=Hoopz2332]Another guy ignoring the links I posted. In America, Lebron has haters, post-descision but he's generally not hated like Kobe or the likes of Arod or even Tiger since the scandal.


[b]The Top 10 Most Hated Athletes in American Sports

[ILLsmak]

i love how when people get ethered on ISH, no one owns up to it. They just stop responding lol

shit I ether with every post; no one responds to me.

-Smak

[Soundwave]

From someone who lived in 7 countries in 4 continents in the last 22 years:

Everyone and I mean everyone who plays basketball or follows the NBA knows who MJ, LJ and KB are.

For the remaining 98% of the population MJ is known to some of the sports interested 30-50 years old men (back in the 80s- mid 90s you could watch NBA games in free TV, thus many actually watched some games, especially finals).
Kobe is less known thanMJ, but since he has been doing these Turkish Airline commercials with Messi, many actually recognize who he is.

Lebron and the rest of the NBA players are practically non existent for the common man.

Exemption: some of the Facebook generation know who (and what) is Kris Humphries (formerly called kardashian).

Everyone knew who Michael Jordan was in the 90s, lol. I was just flipping through the channels today and "Home Alone" was on and it was the clip of the kid using a Michael Jordan cut out to simulate people being in his home.

Jordan was everywhere, after Obama and Michael Jackson, he's probably the most famous black American on a global scale (yes I'd put him above Muhammad Ali, television marketing just wasn't the same in his day).

Honestly Shaquille O' Neal when he came into the NBA in 1992/1993 is more popular than probably any basketball player today. You couldn't turn on a TV without seeing a Shaq Pepsi or Reebok ad and "Shaq Attack" this and that.

Ditto for Dennis Rodman too in the 90s, even the most sports allergic white girls in my high school were obsessed with him, lol. Everyone knew the Bulls, that's the biggest difference IMO between the NBA today and in the 90s, the NBA had much more appeal to non-hardcore basketball fans.

[sportjames23]

Everyone knew who Michael Jordan was in the 90s, lol. I was just flipping through the channels today and "Home Alone" was on and it was the clip of the kid using a Michael Jordan cut out to simulate people being in his home.

Jordan was everywhere, after Obama and Michael Jackson, he's probably the most famous black American on a global scale (yes I'd put him above Muhammad Ali, television marketing just wasn't the same in his day).

Honestly Shaquille O' Neal when he came into the NBA in 1992/1993 is more popular than probably any basketball player today. You couldn't turn on a TV without seeing a Shaq Pepsi or Reebok ad and "Shaq Attack" this and that.

Ditto for Dennis Rodman too in the 90s, even the most sports allergic white girls in my high school were obsessed with him, lol. Everyone knew the Bulls, that's the biggest difference IMO between the NBA today and in the 90s, the NBA had much more appeal to non-hardcore basketball fans.

This here.

If ya'll weren't around back then or too young to remember, MJ was fvcking GLOBAL. You can combine the popularity of every NBA star today and they still wouldn't come close to matching MJ's status back then.

Hell, just look at Air Jordans. The man hasn't played in years and his shoes STILL outsell Lebron's and Kobe's combined:

http://theshoegame.com/articles/u-s-...vs-jordan.html

[Lebron23]

Lebron is very popular in the Philippines. He has the highest selling basketball shoes and jerseys in the country. He and Kobe are the 2 most famous basketball players. Kobe first visited the country when he was 19/20 years old in 1998.

[And1AllDay]

My guess is because he still has a highly marketable #2 and #3 behind him, where as most other sports might only have a #1 and that's it. Like for golf, for example, Tiger Woods is the face of golf. But in NBA you have LBJ, Kobe, KD, etc.

[ripthekik]

From someone who lived in 7 countries in 4 continents in the last 22 years:

Everyone and I mean everyone who plays basketball or follows the NBA knows who MJ, LJ and KB are.

For the remaining 98% of the population MJ is known to some of the sports interested 30-50 years old men (back in the 80s- mid 90s you could watch NBA games in free TV, thus many actually watched some games, especially finals).
Kobe is less known thanMJ, but since he has been doing these Turkish Airline commercials with Messi, many actually recognize who he is.

Lebron and the rest of the NBA players are practically non existent for the common man.

Exemption: some of the Facebook generation know who (and what) is Kris Humphries (formerly called kardashian).

This right here. I also travel a lot and can confirm.

Ain't no kid in the playground shouting they wanna be like Lebron (How does that work anyway? when you pass the ball to your teammate for the last shot?) But people wanted to be like Mike, AI, and Kobe.

[coin24]

I think its just in general the NBA isnt as popular advertising wise outside of the US. Obviously heaps of people watch it via league pass/streams, but outside of that its non existent..

For example in Australia in the late 90s you saw plenty of Grant Hill sprite and Fila ads, Jordans ads, Shaq, Barkley etc.. Now you would not see a single one. The majority of people here would be lucky tell you a single current player or who they play for.

Ive visited a lot of other countries and its the same thing, apart from probably the Philipines who are bball crazy They even have an all basketball channel that was showing playoff games from 80s/90s when i was there..

To be honest i couldnt even tell you apart from there shoe deals who any of the players are endorsing anymore, and thats what gets there names out there internationally..

[Nevaeh]

I swear, you can't argue with these people. I put the info and link right infront of them and they still try to argue against cold hard facts and reality.

It's no different than when you see those "stat debate" threads that pop up, showing factually how Lebron is dominant, only to have it dismissed as "well, he's just playing for stats", even while his team is constantly winning. Or how he's not as popular as perceived even on ISH, all the while Heat game threads continue to hit 10,000+ views game after game.

I'm actually convinced that some peeps here are actually traumatized to know how popular Lebron is. The dominant stats and championships are just the icing on the cake, causing some haters to literally seek therapy to cope with it now.

With that, you won this Thread in ways ISH hasn't seen in a minute.

[TMac&Luther]

Bryant, Messi, Ronaldo, Federer, Messi, Bolt etc.

People in U.S thinks that LeBum is in the same class as these athletes. (I dont think he is, but thats another story)

He is the most famous athlete in America.

But why isnt he even in the top 10 over most famous athletes in the world, even if he is the "so called best player in the world"?

There is a reason why NIKE didnt have him in their big commercial back in 2010, they had Federer, Bryant, Ronaldo etc.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSggaxXUS8k

Is it because he is ugly?. Lack of charisma?

Everybody knows Jordan and Bryant in England. Other than basketball fans, few have heard about James. The only reason they know him is because of his involvement in Liverpool FC.

Do you smoke crack? Lebron James is already popular around the world. As far as few people who aren't basketball fans even knowing about James. My damn mom even knows about James and it doesn't have anything to do with Liverpool.