If you turn on ESPN today, tomorrow, or anytime over the course of the next two weeks, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to see Steph Curry on your TV screen. When the NBA analysts on ESPN aren’t dissecting LeBron James’ every move, they’re discussing Curry and the magical run the Warriors have been on for the last two seasons. As a result, Curry is, without a doubt, one of the most famous athletes in the entire world right now.
He’s not nearly as famous as you might think he is, though. Because while the LeBron vs. Kevin Durant discussion has died down in recent years in favor of a LeBron vs. Steph debate with regards to which player is the bigger NBA star, ESPN just put together a list called the ESPN World Fame 100 in an effort to rank the most famous athletes from across the globe. They called on Ben Alamar, their director of sports analytics, to create a complicated formula that relies on salaries, endorsement deals, and social media followings to rank athletes' popularity (see here for a full breakdown of how Alamar went about creating the formula). And what Alamar found was pretty surprising.
For starters, Curry isn't in the top 10 on ESPN's list. Or the top 20. Or even the top 30! He actually comes in at No. 34 on the list behind six other NBA players, including Dwyane Wade (No. 33), Derrick Rose (No. 30), Carmelo Anthony (No. 29), Kobe Bryant (No. 11), Kevin Durant (No. 6), and LeBron James (No. 2). Other athletes who rank ahead of Curry? Golfers Rory McIlroy (No. 20) and Phil Mickelson (No. 13), female tennis players Serena Williams (No. 25) and Maria Sharapova (No. 18), just about every prominent soccer player (Neymar at No. 4, Lionel Messi at No. 3, Cristiano Ronaldo at No. 1), and not one but two cricket players (Mahendra Singh Dhoni at No. 14 and Virat Kohli at No. 8).
There are some more surprises on the list, too. For example, Ronda Rousey (No. 23) is three slots ahead of Floyd Mayweather (No. 26). Cam Newton is the first NFL player to show up on the list, and he doesn’t appear until No. 32, despite the popularity of the NFL in America (also worth noting: Odell Beckham Jr.—who has only played in the NFL for two seasons—is the third NFL player on the list at No. 40, two spots behind Peyton Manning at No. 38). And did we mention that there are two cricket players in the top 14 slots?!?
It's kind of crazy to see where some of the biggest athletes in the world fall on the list. Here are the 10 most famous athletes in the world, according to ESPN:
10. Rafael Nadal
9. James Rodriguez
8. Virat Kohli
7. Tiger Woods
6. Kevin Durant
5. Roger Federer
4. Neymar
3. Lionel Messi
2. LeBron James
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
You can go here to check out the remainder of the list. Are there any other surprises that you see?
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