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re: Who's more famous at their peak Michael Jordan or Lionel Messi?
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:21 pm to rowbear1922
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:21 pm to rowbear1922
quote:
Messi, and it’s not even close. A bigger factor in that is social media
Jordan. Precisely because he was famous worldwide even without the benefit of social media.
1
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:23 pm to DeathValley85
quote:
China
Is probably the difference. They don't care about soccer.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:24 pm to rowbear1922
quote:
You think pre-social media people in favelas in Brazil or Africans in villages knew Jordan?
Actually…yes, yes they did.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:26 pm to FlyingTigerBo
Has anyone said Messi because of the internet?
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:26 pm to Tiger Prawn
quote:
Yall are forgetting that the NBA didn’t have nearly the international audience in the 90’s as they do today. The internet was in its infancy. There was no streaming services to watch games. Overseas audiences only had a few chances a year to watch an NBA game on TV.
And yet, everyone in the world still knew who MJ was.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:31 pm to FlyingTigerBo
I think if they were out walking around in random places, MJ would get recognized more. Especially in Asia, and there are several billion people there.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:37 pm to FlyingTigerBo
Since the question is higher in the world it is Messi NO DOUBT.
Jordan is certainly the GOAT of the NBA (regardless of what the punk LeBron has to say). But, I would say Messi is ahead and it isn't even close. The majority of the American public and even the typical sports fan in the USA has no clue how HUGE soccer is in the most distant reaches of our world.
Jordan is certainly the GOAT of the NBA (regardless of what the punk LeBron has to say). But, I would say Messi is ahead and it isn't even close. The majority of the American public and even the typical sports fan in the USA has no clue how HUGE soccer is in the most distant reaches of our world.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:37 pm to FlyingTigerBo
it's hard to compare, given the overall world access to information at those 2 times in history...
MJ in the 90s, to me as a huge basketball fan and someone who played basketball for club teams and school teams, was GOD... we had WGN so i literally NEVER missed a game he was playing in, from like 1990 to 1996... middle of season vs. the Hornets, didn't give a shite... he was playing, i was watching, every second of the game
MJ in the 90s, to me as a huge basketball fan and someone who played basketball for club teams and school teams, was GOD... we had WGN so i literally NEVER missed a game he was playing in, from like 1990 to 1996... middle of season vs. the Hornets, didn't give a shite... he was playing, i was watching, every second of the game
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:38 pm to FlyingTigerBo
Worldwide Messi and not close.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:42 pm to Kingshakabooboo
quote:
without the benefit of social media
Not even dial up internet was widely available at Jordan's peak, and he was still a worldwide name and phenom.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:46 pm to FlyingTigerBo
Messi because of the internet. I think Jordan stopped playing before social media blew up.
Michael was more of a cultural icon to the US at his peak.
We are talking about peak, so it's not really a fair assessment just because of the audience reach wasn't possible for one.
Michael was more of a cultural icon to the US at his peak.
We are talking about peak, so it's not really a fair assessment just because of the audience reach wasn't possible for one.
quote:
During the 2022 World Cup Final, an estimated 1.5 billion people watched Messi play live. That is roughly 1 in every 5 people on Earth tuning in to a single match.
This post was edited on 7/16/26 at 7:52 pm
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:47 pm to Harvey Vortac
Downvote all you like there were a lot fewer distractions in the mid 90s than right now
Posted on 7/16/26 at 7:57 pm to Harvey Vortac
Flame if you want, but Kobe circa ~2012 was far more popular than Jordan ever was on a global level
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:10 pm to Jim Hopper
I’ll make the argument that Diego Maradona was more popular than MJ. And I’m a MJ guy.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:18 pm to FlyingTigerBo
Adjusting for internet, Jordan. Messi plays a sport, and some people are not fans of teams not theirs. Music is universal.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:20 pm to FlyingTigerBo
Jordan wore a beret in Paris and the Parisians loved it. That’s how popular he was. My great aunt in Northern Italy knew all about him.
Nike built an entire industry around him.
Nike built an entire industry around him.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:29 pm to rowbear1922
quote:
Messi, and it’s not even close.
The world is much more populous today. Plus 65% of the world had TVs in 1990 while 85% has it today. Lastly, soccer is a much more popular game than basketball.
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:32 pm to CPA Yung Boi
quote:
Lionel Messi has 513 million instagram followers. LeBron James who’s inarguably the second best player behind Jordan and a global superstar has…. 4.2 million
This modern argument point is silly. If you ask worldwide who the greatest baseball player of all time? I would almost bet Babe Ruth would be in the top 3 among all age groups…..and he died in 1948.
Jordan, Ruth, Pete, etc. if they were all here and in their prime today, would ALL have huge online followers.
Problem is…. They were in their prime BEFORE social media…..
I can tell you anyone worldwide who knows basketball, knows Air Jordan….
Phil Knight knows this, too… bc Jordan single handedly made his brand EXPLODE
Posted on 7/16/26 at 8:35 pm to UFFan
quote:
Soccer is a lot more popular than basketball worldwide. Being a great soccer player makes you more famous worldwide than being a great basketball player.
if we defining famous as simply which player was more “known” worldwide, it’s gonna be Messi.
but if we change that to more popular, Jordan has a shot.
in ‘92 Barcelona, the Dream Team was far and away the biggest attraction
other entire teams wanted to pose with them.
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