Yesterday, ESPN released a list of the 100 most famous athletes in the world. The rankings were derived from a formula created by ESPN's director of sports analytics, Ben Alamar.
Alamar used salaries, endorsements, social media activity, and google search results to determine the list. Not surprisingly, a number of NBA players found themselves at or near the top.
20 percent of the list is composed of basketball stars, and LeBron James comes in as the second most popular athlete in the world, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
The most popular NFL player? Cam Newton, at number 32. This speaks to the NBA's massive global popularity, far-outweighing that of the National Football League.
Kevin Durant is the only other NBA player in the top 10, sliding in at number six.
Here are the rest of the NBA players on the list:
11. Kobe Bryant
29. Carmelo Anthony
30. Derrick Rose
33. Dwyane Wade
34. Stephen Curry
36. Dwight Howard
39. Chris Paul
43. Blake Griffin
45. Damian Lillard
48. Russell Westbrook
54. James Harden
60. Jeremy Lin
67. Kevin Love
68. Chris Bosh
79. Amar'e Stoudemire
87. Deron Williams
90. Tim Duncan
91. Rudy Gay
Especially surprising is Stephen Curry's spot, ranked behind the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and even Derrick Rose. Given the way things are trending, that will change very quickly.
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