Lillard 45th most popular athlete in the world.

[BoBoBREWSKI]

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/15685581/espn-world-fame-100

5.31.2016
It started off with a simple question: Who's the most famous athlete in the world? Ben Alamar, ESPN's director of sports analytics, devised a formula that combines salary and endorsements with social media following and Google search popularity to create the ESPN World Fame 100 rankings. The names might be familiar, but where the planet's biggest stars land on the list could surprise you.

Damian Lillard #45

Basketball | United States
Salary/winnings: $4M
Endorsements: $10M
Facebook likes: 2.6M
Twitter followers: 1M

IT'S GOOD TO BE
A Trail Blazers draft pick who -- unlike Greg Oden, Sam Bowie and others -- has actually exceeded projections for his career. Since arriving from Weber State, Lillard has embraced being Portland's leader, not just its starting point guard. He also raps -- Droppin' dimes, droppin' dimes -- under the name Dame D.O.L.L.A.

PEAK MOMENT
Dragging the Blazers to 44 wins this season after preseason estimates pegged them as a 26.5-win team following LaMarcus Aldridge's departure. Portland has the NBA's lowest payroll and third-youngest roster but still made it to the conference semifinals before falling to Golden State.

JUST SAYING
"He doesn't put himself above the team or above other players. He's not taking Uber to games instead of arriving with the team. He just works hard. He treats the rookies like he treats vets. He never demoralizes people and doesn't talk down to them. It's rare you see a player of his caliber so humble, so laid back." -- Portland teammate C.J. McCollum

-- Johnette Howard

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Pretty cool that they have Damian ranked higher than Russell Westbrook, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, JJ Watt, etc etc

 

[THE HCP]

I was good until #8.....didn't know who he was. Or 9 and 12......

 

[THE HCP]

Props to Dame and his branding. Does a damn fine job on it.

 

[e_blazer]

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/15685581/espn-world-fame-100



Damian Lillard #45

He'd probably be top 20 if you eliminated all of the soccer stars that no real Amurrican gives a crap about.

 

[e_blazer]

How the hell does Rudy Gay make a top-100 list?

 

[THE HCP]

How the hell does Rudy Gay make a top-100 list?

Because anytime somebody googles anything homosexual, he POPS up!

 

[crandc]

I know we are all US-centrist and this is worldwide, which is why Jeremy Lin was so high. I confess I've not heard of some of the football and cricket stars. But how does Serena fall so far, while Federer and Nadal are top 10? 25? Her whole career has been international. Steph Curry behind Derrick Rose?

I think the point of these lists is that no one agrees and it gets people stirred up and talking.

 

[crandc]

Because anytime somebody googles anything homosexual, he POPS up!

Patrick Robertson's group has a news broadcast and newsletter. Like most media outlets they subscribe to the international news feeds. But their software is programmed to auto-replace "gay" with "homosexual" since "gay" gets a better response (happy rather than clinical) and they hate gay people. This landed them with a hilarious gaffe when sprinter Tyson Gay won the 100 meter race and was named in consequence "world's fastest man". The antigay group;s software goes into action with sports headline: "Homosexual is world's fastest man" and story lead "Tyson Homosexual won the 100 meter race and was titled world's fastest man..."

They quickly took it down but you know nothing dies on the internet, the original made the rounds. We all laughed gaily. Every time I hear of Tyson Gay I start laughing.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Their formula includes salary, and uses Dame's 2015-16 season salary. I wonder how high he'd jump if his new max salary were factored in.

As for Serena, the "formula" also involves endorsement dollars, and her overall annual endorsement dollars of $13M is far less than Federer's 58M, Rafa's 28M, or Djokovic's 31M.

 

[santeesioux]

Derrick Rose still has some pretty popular shoes, that's the only reason I can think of as to why he's so high on that list. Heck, I have a pair.

 

[B-Roy]

87. Deron Williams
91. Rudy Gay

Lolwat?

Also find it funny that Kevin Love is here but Kyrie Irving isn't.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

87. Deron Williams
91. Rudy Gay

Lolwat?

Also find it funny that Kevin Love is here but Kyrie Irving isn't.

Kyrie probably lost a lot of Twitter followers after that creepy NBA.com commercial. "That must be my duvet..."

 

[Pinwheel1]

He'd probably be top 20 if you eliminated all of the soccer stars that no real Amurrican gives a crap about.

Between his music and his 17 million salary increase next year....he might make top 20 eventually regardless of the soccer stars.

 

[Red Rooster]

http://www.nba.com/blazers/overtime/espn-lillard-among-worlds-most-famous-athletes



"Taking in factors such as NBA salary, endorsements and social media following, ESPN has ranked Lillard the 45th most famous athlete in the world among professionals in all sports. While Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi lead the pack, Lillard ranks ahead of fellow NBA superstars Russell Westbrook and James Harden as well as NFL quarterbacks Russell Wilson, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. In all, he's one of 20 NBA players in the top 100, ranking 11th among the league's most famous athletes."



I'm telling you, he will be the reason that Portland is able to lure a premier FA.



Edit: Can a mod fix the thread title to say 45th please? Lol

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Edit: Can a mod fix the thread title to say 45th please? Lol

There is a $15 title editing fee.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Edit: Can a mod fix the thread title to say 45th please? Lol

And a $20 merging duplicate threads fee.

 

[Red Rooster]

There is a $15 title editing fee.

And a $20 merging duplicate threads fee.

Jus make it $45. Lol. Didn't see the other thread at all, my bad. And thanks, You sly dog.