This summer, basketball fans were treated to an extraordinary moment when LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry—three of the NBA’s biggest legends—teamed up for the first time as part of the USA Basketball squad during the Paris Olympics. Their camaraderie was captured in a video titled “NBA OG’s: Friends and Rivals,” uploaded on the NBA’s official YouTube channel. The three icons sat down in Lille, France, where they discussed their careers that have interwoven with each other’s lives, mutual admiration and respect for each other, and the next generation of NBA stars.
However, what should have been a celebration of basketball greatness quickly turned into a social media debate. A photo from this video, later shared on the NBA’s Instagram handle, sparked comparisons to football’s global appeal, with fans across the world contrasting basketball’s largely U.S.-centric following with football’s universal dominance.
Setting the Stage: Football’s Universal Love vs. Basketball’s Localized Popularity
Football is, without doubt, the most popular sport in the world. Its reach spans every continent, with billions of fans breathing, playing, and following the game. Whether it’s Europe, Asia, Africa, or North and South America, football is woven into the fabric of cultures across the globe. Iconic tournaments like the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and domestic leagues like the English Premier League draw enormous global audiences, uniting fans from different corners of the world.
On the other hand, basketball, despite its growing popularity, is still primarily rooted in the United States. The NBA Finals, while a massive event domestically, doesn’t draw the same level of international attention as football’s marquee events. In fact, many of basketball’s biggest games struggle to compete with the viewership of even mid-tier football matches globally. This distinction is a key factor in the ongoing debate about the global reach of these two sports.
To illustrate this disparity, let’s look at two iconic Instagram posts from the worlds of basketball and football.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Messi-Ronaldo’s LV Campaign vs. NBA’s Big Three
In November 2022, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the two greatest football players of all time, collaborated for a campaign with Louis Vuitton. The now-iconic image featured the duo playing chess atop a Louis Vuitton briefcase, designed in the brand’s signature checkerboard pattern. The image, titled “Victory is a State of Mind,” was not only a marketing masterpiece but also a cultural phenomenon. It celebrated the two football giants’ legendary rivalry, perfectly timed ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Louis Vuitton ad post on Instagram posted by Ronaldo has garnered a staggering 42 million likes while adding over 500 thousand comments. The campaign became a testament to their unparalleled global appeal and football’s ability to unite people worldwide.
Now, compare this to the NBA’s recent Instagram post featuring LeBron, Durant, and Curry. The image, taken from their “Friends and Rivals” video, was meant to celebrate the rare sight of these three legends uniting on the same team. While well-received by basketball fans, the post received just over 800 thousand likes and 53 thousand comments—a respectable figure within the basketball community but a far cry from the numbers achieved by Messi and Ronaldo.
This stark contrast in engagement highlights the global disparity between the two sports. While football commands attention on every continent, basketball’s audience remains primarily concentrated in the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, parts of Asia and Europe.
Football Twitter Comes Out Swinging
The basketball post didn’t just fail to match up in numbers—it also became the target of football fans on social media. Comments like “They can’t even crack 1M likes… They could never have the streets like Footy,” flooded the post, with users emphasizing the gulf in global popularity.
Another comment hit a nerve: “Basketball is just America. And they call it the world champion💀.” This referenced the NBA’s habit of crowning its champions as “world champions,” despite the league being limited to teams from the U.S. and Canada—a stark contrast to football’s global competitions.
Football fans even speculated on the engagement potential of other hypothetical photos. One user joked: “Imagine a Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo pic… 10 million likes minimum.” Another quipped: “Even a Salah, Haaland, and Mbappe pic would smoke this!” The banter underscored football’s unparalleled cultural dominance and meme-worthy moments.
Why Football Reigns Supreme
The debate ultimately boils down to one key difference: globalization. Football is a universal language, played in streets, parks, and stadiums across the world. Its stars are household names, revered from Rio de Janeiro to Riyadh, from Tokyo to Timbuktu. Events like the FIFA World Cup bring together players from rival clubs to represent their nations, creating moments of unity and pride that resonate worldwide.
Basketball, while immensely popular in the U.S., doesn’t have the same level of global integration. The Olympics and the FIBA World Cup provide international basketball moments, but these events are far less prominent than their football counterparts. As a result, even the NBA’s biggest stars struggle to achieve the same level of universal recognition as football icons.
The King of Global Sports
The clash between the NBA’s Big Three and football’s global giants is more than just a social media skirmish—it’s a reflection of the cultural and geographic divides between the two sports. While basketball continues to grow internationally, it still lags behind football, which remains the undisputed king of global sports.
LeBron, Durant, and Curry may be legends in their own right, but when it comes to the world stage, football’s Messi and Ronaldo remind us why they—and the sport they represent—continue to dominate hearts, minds, and screens across the globe.
