Johnson’s Ohtani–James comparison meets a global popularity test
The former NFL player called Shohei Ohtani the bigger international star, while indicators cited by Yahoo Sports favour LeBron James.
Keyshawn Johnson has judged Shohei Ohtani a bigger international star than LeBron James, making the comparison on the “All the Smoke” podcast. Johnson is a former NFL player and winner of Super Bowl XXXVII.
The claim is subjective, and Yahoo Sports notes there is no reliable way to quantify which athlete is more popular internationally. The outlet points to the NBA’s global reach and the players’ social media followings as indicators in James’s favour.
The article cites a YouGov estimate of nearly 2.4 billion NBA fans worldwide. It says there is no official equivalent estimate for Major League Baseball, whose popularity is concentrated in East Asian and Latin American markets.
On social media, James has 55.2 million followers on X and 154 million on Instagram, according to the article. Ohtani has 10.7 million Instagram followers and no official X account.
Johnson also described Ohtani as Los Angeles’ signature athlete when James was with the Lakers. That view sits alongside the article’s broader indicators, which suggest James has a wider international profile.
