Why isnt James as popular as other athletes worldwide?

[#number6ix#]

neither one is more popular than justin bieber

[Ronaldinho]

soccer players + Bolt are the only sportsmen the rest of the world care about. The rest are not relavant. It's not like people in Africa or South America know who who Kobe or Federer are. Go to any small village in Africa or South America and I promise you they know who Messi, Ronaldo and Bolt are but show them a pic of Kobe or Federer and they have no idea who those guys are.

Not true at all. People who dont give shit about basketball knows who Kobe and Michael Jordan are. In the same way people who dont give a **** about boxing knows Mike Tyson. And thats wordwilde, here in Brasil, or Africa, or anywhere.

[lakers_forever]

How do you explain Usain Bolt then?

He's not exactly a good looking guy.

Because in terms of popularity:

The Olympics >>>>> NBA

Messi looks like a retard, has no charisma, but he is the world's best soccer player. That's enough to be really, really extremely famous worldwide, because soccer is by far the most popular sport.

With basketball (not anywhere near soccer in terms of popularity), being the best player is not enough, you have to transcend the sport to be known even by those who don't know anything about basketball.

Maybe Lebron lacks the charisma or an aesthetically pleasing looking style of play for non basketball fans. I don't know. Maybe he will transcend the sport if he dominates for more years in some insane way.

[lakers_forever]

Not true at all. People who dont give shit about basketball knows who Kobe and Michael Jordan are. In the same way people who dont give a **** about boxing knows Mike Tyson. And thats wordwilde, here in Brasil, or Africa, or anywhere.

I kind of agree with Nash. I'm brazilian like you. I asked the workers of my bulding (40 to 50 years old) if they knew who Michael Jordan was and none of them knew (I did not ask about Kobe, but there is no way in hell they do know him if they don't even know Jordan). They all know Mike Tyson (probably more than Ali) though because Globo (the most popular brazilian station) used to broadcast his fights. I think if you go to the countryside, it would be even worse.

[Rekindled]

You guys are underrating how well known he is worldwide

replace lebron with any of the above athletes you get the same attraction.

[kamil]

Because no one cares about the rest of the world. USA = GOAT

Murrica is all that matters. Stay mad foreigners

And THIS is why everyone outside of USA says americans are geographically and culturally stupid.

Its too bad though, because there are many intelligent americans being overshadowed by a few highschool dropouts.

[k0kakw0rld]

Messi is a manlet troll and Ronaldinho was/is the most popular footballer of the entire generation. Attractiveness is hardly an indicator of popularity. How is LeBron uglier than Bolt, for example?

Messi is the least charismatic athlete in the world. His talent transcends all this.

Stop talking out of your ass. Ronaldinho? Really? According to you right?!

***DAVID BECKHAM IS THE MOST POPULAR FOOTBALLER OF ALL TIME***

[Tking714]

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

Riveting facts and sources. Tell more

[G-train]

Everyone? lol Lebron has not yet transcended the sport of basketball. For my experience living in South America and have spent a couple of months in Europe (Lisbon, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris and London), mostly only basketball fans know him.

Speaking about Europe and Latin America in terms of fame:

Soccer players (Messi, C. Ronaldo, and retired players like Pele and Maradona >>>>> Lebron

MJ (he has transcended basketball, altough I don't think he is as famous as Pele and Maradona) >>>>> Lebron

Kobe (transcended a little, but not even close to Jordan's fame) >> Lebron

Ali and Tyson >>>>> Lebron


And I've read at Repucom that Pele is like the 9th most famous athlete in China right now. And the man stopped playing in 1977 (also China is not really a soccer nation). We can use "everyone knows" for a guy like him, not to Lebron.

False.

[jlip]

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miam...popular-player

http://poy.time.com/2013/11/25/vote-.../lebron-james/

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...rts/710029593/

I don't know why I waste my time in troll threads, but anyways... It's clear from the links above that Lebron is, as recent as two weeks ago, the world's most popular basketball player. If he is not as popular as the biggest soccer/ football, lacrosse, or cricket star that says more about the popularity of the respective sports than the individual athletes.

[OhNoTimNoSho]

Cus he doesn't do cool shit.


He isn't doing crazy dunks and ridiculous layups and scoring 50 to keep a buzz going. He just lays low and does the bare minimum. He plays it too safe and that shits not appealing to random people. Its not entertaining. People wanna see cool shit, they want to hear cool stories, they want to have a sense of amazement. Lebron just doesnt inspire that shit with his safe style.

[0000000]

Because he's a corporate puppet with no personality. He caters to the typical American fan and is a byproduct of the American political correctness culture. Also, Stern's new rules have made athletes into drones. Stuff such as dress code etc. Maybe he does have personality but media wise, he was always about saying the right thing.

What really solidified Kobe was winning without Shaq and being better than ever after he has touched the bottom.
Kobe has touched the bottom. Everything was in jeopardy for him. And he responded to controversy by playing better than ever.

LeBron is just great at basketball. Not a great story like Kobe. Like someone said, people love stories. Kobe's story makes him somewhat iconic, more than a basketball player. And I think Kobe has just has that IT factor where people genuinely care about him. Love him or hate him, everyone pays attention to him whereas no one is really invested in LeBron.

Kobe's story is indeed fascinating. I remmeber back in the day when AI and his fans considered Kobe to be soft and fake..not enough street cred and all. Seeing how Kobe's career has unfolded, it is just amazing. And recently when the media asked AI about Kobe, he said, don't worry about him, he's a killer...from a guy who once considered Kobe fake and soft.


Kobe's career played out like a movie.

[knicksman]

Because in terms of popularity:

The Olympics >>>>> NBA

Messi looks like a retard, has no charisma, but he is the world's best soccer player. That's enough to be really, really extremely famous worldwide, because soccer is by far the most popular sport.

With basketball (not anywhere near soccer in terms of popularity), being the best player is not enough, you have to transcend the sport to be known even by those who don't know anything about basketball.

Maybe Lebron lacks the charisma or an aesthetically pleasing looking style of play for non basketball fans. I don't know. Maybe he will transcend the sport if he dominates for more years in some insane way.

betas lack charisma.

[chazzy]

I don't know why I waste my time in troll threads, but anyways... It's clear from the links above that Lebron is, as recent as two weeks ago, the world's most popular basketball player. If he is not as popular as the biggest soccer/ football, lacrosse, or cricket star that says more about the popularity of the respective sports than the individual athletes.

Jersey sales isn't a fool proof determinant of global popularity. The ESPN poll is US only

[0000000]

Messi is not the best player in the world! It is Cristiano Ronaldo easily. He's the most complete, best all around player ever IMO.
For some reason, people just don't want to celebrate him as the best. He kind of plays that villain role in the world of soccer.

Messi has no charisma, true but he is also one of the best players ever. Being an alternative to Cristiano Ronaldo and the only person in the world who can compete with Cristiano makes Messi more popular than he'd be otherwise. He basically plays off of Ronaldo. His only draw marketing wise is that he is not Ronaldo.

When it's all said and done, Ronaldo will be remembered as better! He js better and more dedicated and just greater. Even though FIFA bs awards will always go to Messi.