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Yeah, they might be the most famous in the USA, but in the entire world, they are not even on the radar. Most of the world doesn't watch or play basketball. Soccer on the other hand is the most watched sport in the entire world and hence soccer players are the most known worldwide (even though not here in the USA, a small percentage of global population). Try not to have such an American view that what is big here is big in the whole world.
That is not correct. IT's true, of course, that Soccer is the biggest worldwide sport, but Kobe and Lebron are international superstars no matter how you slice it- NBA is big worldwide- not just here in the US. My dad was just in Africa on business recently, and in one of his pictures there is a guy riding on the back of a motor scooter wearing a Lebron James Cleveland Cavaliers jersey. In Africa! They are big in Europe, and even in China- where I have been a couple of times- this sport is huge and everybody knows Kobe and Lebron. Clothing stores and sports stores have life-sized picture cut-outs of these guys at their entrances, you would think you were here in the states. So saying it's America-centric to say they are big worldwide is incorrect- it's simply a fact.
Try not to have such an American view that what is big here is big in the whole world.
I was asking a simple question, not even insinuating that I think the rest of the worlds views are the same as ours. Frankly I find most sports mind numbingly boring and don't watch any of them including Soccer. I couldn't care less what the most popular sport in the World is, because I don't watch ANY of them.
That is not correct. IT's true, of course, that Soccer is the biggest worldwide sport, but Kobe and Lebron are international superstars no matter how you slice it- NBA is big worldwide- not just here in the US. My dad was just in Africa on business recently, and in one of his pictures there is a guy riding on the back of a motor scooter wearing a Lebron James Cleveland Cavaliers jersey. In Africa! They are big in Europe, and even in China- where I have been a couple of times- this sport is huge and everybody knows Kobe and Lebron. Clothing stores and sports stores have life-sized picture cut-outs of these guys at their entrances, you would think you were here in the states. So saying it's America-centric to say they are big worldwide is incorrect- it's simply a fact.
soccer is much much bigger in africa than basketball, when I was there all I saw was euro soccer jerseys, especially chelsea
I will jump in here to say that the one exception to the rule that the world doesn't care about American sports is excepted for pro Basketball. Most European cities and/or countries have a basketball team. European kids play basketball on plentiful courts in parks, schoolyards, etc.
It doesn't have the popularity of Soccer but it is definitely on the radar unlike American football or baseball (not counting Japan, Latin America). The latter two sports have niche popularity in Europe, but Basketball is really becoming an international sport. Shoot, even a squad of height-challenged Greeks can beat America's 'dream-team'.:-)
Oh well with sports I don't know enough to know what's big or small market.
If we mean "metropolitan area" Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's metropolitan area is reportedly the 49th biggest in the Americas. (The North American and South American continents) So this would make "big city" a metro-area of over 2.3 million. Cleveland's isn't all that much smaller, but I guess wouldn't make the cut.
NYC is likely among the five biggest cities in the world so this is maybe not a fair way to judge. (Tokyo, Mexico City, Seoul, and Jakarta are the only places bigger depending on what standard you use)
Chicago is possibly bigger than London and is among the thirty biggest cities in the world, well according to Wikipedia.
I grew up in NYC and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when I got out of High School. For those who don't know, Albuquerque is a fairly low-density, sprawling city with a scant million in the metro area. Nevertheless, I do and have always considered it a 'real city'. A fairly big one, but not a huge one.
I had a friend from NYC visit once and we were driving all over the place so I could show her what Albuquerque was all about. We went here, we went there, we went all over the place. After a couple of hours, she asked me, "So where exactly is Albuquerque?"
"More or less in the center of the state", I replied.
"No, I mean, when are we going to get there?"
"Uhhh. You have been in Albuquerque since you landed"
"Oh. I thought Albuquerque was a city."
Apparently, any population center that doesn't have high-rises and skyscrapers is not a city in some people's minds.
ABQConvict
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