July 6th, 2022, YouGov
One of the most popular sports leagues in the US, the NBA has yet to command the same audience in the UK. But despite the differences in the size of the fanbase, it’s the same players who stand out in both markets.
In a recent YouGov study, we asked NBA fans in the UK and US who their favourite current NBA player is.
Leading the charts at 28% in both the UK and the US is LeBron “King” James of the Los Angeles Lakers, widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. While tied with LeBron James in the US, Stephen Curry is the second most popular player in the UK (21%) Kevin Durant (UK, 13%; US, 19%), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Uk, 11%; US, 12 %) and James Harden (UK, 8%; US, 11%) are all more popular among NBA fans in the US than in the UK but they place third, fourth and fifth in both markets.
Though equally popular in both countries (8%), Luka Doncic comes in fifth in the UK compared to his eighth place in the US.
On the other hand, Russel Westbrook who is more popular in the US (10%), where he comes in sixth, rounds out the top 10 in the UK (6%). Kawhi Leonard is tied for seventh place with Kyrie Irving in the US at 9%.
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Methodology: YouGov Global Fan Profiles, which includes data from 38 markets, is based on continuously collected data from several sources, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Data referenced is based on a sample size of between 355 and 809 adults for the UK and between 1,420 and 2,970 adults for the US.