LeBron James tops NBA stars on ESPN Fame List – but second overall to THIS superstar
LEBRON JAMES is the most famous athlete in the NBA, according to ESPN’s recently-updated list of sportsmen, but the 33-year-old ranks only second overall behind footballing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
LeBron James ranked second on ESPN's annual Fame List, behind Cristiano Ronaldo
ESPN ranked athletes based on a proprietary formula that took into account three fame factors: Google Trend score, social media following and endorsement dollars.
James is the only basketball star in the top five, with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Roger Federer rounding out the rest of the contenders to Ronaldo’s top spot.
Despite a social media following almost 80 million (59.5m) short of Ronaldo’s whopping 121.7m-strong fan base, James rakes in the most lucrative yearly endorsements.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star pockets an estimated $55m (£41m) for his various sponsorship deals and commercial partnerships, while Ronaldo generates around $40m (£30m), according to the ESPN list.
Golden State Warriors team-mates Kevin Durant, at number seven, and Steph Curry, at number nine, complete the list of NBA stars inside the top 10 – but a further 10 players are included in the top 100.
James Harden, 24, Kyrie Irving, 27, Dwayne Wade, 31, Russell Westbrook, 34, Derrick Rose, 36, Carmelo Anthony, 43, Damian Lillard, 51, Chris Paul, 52, Blake Griffin, 64, and Isaiah Thomas, 92, round off the basketball representatives.
The 33-year-old is estimated to rake in £41m-a-year in endorsements
ESPN Fame List Top 25
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. LeBron James
3. Lionel Messi
4. Neymar
5. Roger Federer
6. Tiger Woods
7. Kevin Durant
8. Rafael Nadal
9. Stephen Curry
10. Phil Mickelson
11. Virat Kohli
12. Serena Williams
13. Novak Djokovic
14. Floyd Mayweather
15. Rory McIlroy
16. Jordan Spieth
17. Sun Yang
18. Conor McGregor
19. Gareth Bale
20. MS Dhoni
21. Maria Sharapova
22. Mesut Ozil
23. James Rodriguez
24. James Harden
25. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Warriors point guard Steph Curry made it into the top 10, placing at nine
Warriors star Kevin Durant revealed his intention to pursue the purchase of an NBA franchise once his playing days are over.
The 29-year-old made the revelation in a recently-published interview with ESPN, joining the likes of LeBron James in the list of players to have expressed an interest in owning a team.
James’ Cleveland Cavaliers side were savaged by Portland Trail Blazers’ guard CJ McCollum today, who described the outfit as “one of the worst defensive teams” in the league.
His comments came despite James’ game-winning 44-point performance last night – during which fans thought they saw the King drop a huge hint on his free agency future.