LeBron James Has More Instagram Followers Than the Population of 195 of the 203 Nations Competing at the Paris Olympics
The 2024 Paris Olympics are upon us. The Summer Games include every sport from boxing to swimming to tennis to gymnastics to track and field, and of course basketball, which will feature the best players on the planet, many of whom are in the NBA.
LeBron James will compete in his fourth Olympic Games and first since 2012. He was named Team USA’s flagbearer, along with tennis star Coco Guaff, during the opening ceremony and revealed that this would be his final Olympics.
When speaking about the honor of carrying the country’s flag, King James has this to say per NBC Sports: “It was never a thought, it was never a dream, but it’s an absolute honor. To be able to share that moment with you guys is going to make it even more memorable. I just appreciate it, man. Team USA has given so much over the last 20 years.
“I understand right now in a country that’s so divided, I hope this moment and that moment will unite us or bring us together, even for those split seconds, those hours that we travel across the water in Paris. I will hold that responsibility with a lot of honor.”
As part of the Olympic sendoff to the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, we’re taking a look at data compiled that shows just how popular and well-known LeBron is all over the world with some social media stats you have to see to believe.
LeBron’s Instagram followers exceed the population of most countries participating in the Olympics
LeBron has proven to be one of the most famous athletes to participate in the Olympics, given his 159 million Instagram followers.
Data compiled by CasinoOnlineIN shows that LBJ has more followers on the social media platform than the population of 195 of the 203 nations competing at the Olympic Games. Only India, China, USA, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, and Bangladesh have a bigger population than LeBron’s Instagram fanbase.
The basketball icon has 151 million more followers than the official Olympics Instagram account.
LeBron entered the 2024 Paris Olympics with three medals having won a gold in 2008 and 2012 and a bronze in 2004. Eight-time Olympic medalist Usain Bolt has 14 million followers on Instagram, and the most-decorated Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps, has 3.5 million followers.
LeBron is not the most-followed athlete in the world
LeBron’s famous USA teammates don’t even come close to how many followers he has. Steph Curry is more than 100 million behind James with 56 million followers, while Kevin Durant has 13 million, and Joel Embiid has 7 million to date.
But King James is not the most-followed athlete to have played in the Olympics.
Soccer GOATs Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi boast an incredible 635 and 504 million followers, respectively.
