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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James
NBA icon LeBron James still gets the most online views in the entire league, despite being the oldest overall player active. The Los Angeles Lakers star is 41 years old and still playing All-Star caliber basketball. An official list from the NBA released the most viewed players this season by total online views for their highlights. LeBron topped the list, even though he missed 22 games and often played second fiddle behind Luka Doncic.
The NBA Communications team revealed the following top ten list from this season:
LeBron James: 2.85 billion views
Victor Wembanyama: 2.43 billion views
Luka Doncic: 2.11 billion views
Stephen Curry: 1.87 billion views
Nikola Jokic: 1.23 billion views
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 1.14 billion views
Kevin Durant: 1.03 billion views
Anthony Edwards: 982 million views
Cooper Flagg: 963 million views
Austin Reaves: 696 million views
San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama was the closest name to James and he still fell quite behind. LeBron, Wembanyama, and Luka Doncic are the only three names to even reach the 2 billion views mark. NBA fans still love watching the iconic play of James over two decades after he joined the league. Viewers enjoy seeing the highlight plays of the potential greatest of all time before he retires over the next few years.
Why LeBron Still Holds Such Popularity
LeBron clearly reached the cultural phenomenon level of all-time great NBA performers. Even fans who don’t follow the NBA closely know of James as a rare household name in North American society based off sports accolades.
Another important reason for LeBron’s popularity is that he’s currently doing something no one else ever has. Only ten players in league history have played at an older age than James is right now, and none of them played at his level. LeBron finished the season with averages of 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the only name to make the All-Star team at an older age than James, and LeBron will have a chance to top that record if he returns next season. Despite sharing the ball with Luka and Austin Reaves, James still makes highlight plays that fans can’t miss since his time is ticking in the NBA.
What List Says About Other Top Stars
The biggest takeaway from this list that doesn’t involve LeBron shows the popularity of Wembanyama growing. Many believe Wemby will be the player to truly take the torch from James and Stephen Curry as the new face of the league.
MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic had strong views in general, but their combined views still did less than LeBron or Wembanyama on their own. Some names just translate better outside of basketball to appeal to the casual fan that doesn’t keep up with NBA games.
Younger viewers also get more captivated by the names with greater star power and the league clearly needs Wemby to succeed James. However, the popularity of LeBron remaining this high means that the league will benefit from his final few seasons creating massive interest.
Joey Haverford Joey Haverford is a seasoned sports content writer with over 12 years of experience. He has covered the NBA, WNBA, MLB, NFL, and professional wrestling in the sports industry. More about Joey Haverford