the reach of jordans fame doesnt begin or end with the shoe line. it helps alot but The NBA, Nike and Gatorade all had a hand in promoting the myth of Jordan. Stern himself partnered with China to get NBA game’s broadcast over there and during the 94 finals was the first time China was getting live games. Jordan comes outta retirement a year later and shocks the world, returning to the NBA narrative as “the hero”.
How Popular Was America’s Basketball Icon in China During the 90s?
to put it in perspective Jordan was the first NBA superstar the Chinese became accommodated with after recovering from the revolution…and somehow you're implying that social media over-saturation (meaning anyone can be a star which takes away the IT factor) trumps that? Do you also think Bad Bunny is a bigger star than Michael Jackson?
Lol, you’re selectively overrating the impact of 90’s era and at the same time downplaying the power of true global media and distribution era we live in now. Social media oversaturation applies to things like influencer economies or pop culture trends. That “anyone can be a star” thing doesn’t apply to sports stars because pro leagues are legitimately merit based. Plus, sports due to its live nature is still one of the few things that guarantee eyeballs that’s why the TV deal is going up everytime and Superbowl ads cost Ms - so for sports, the amplification factor of social media outweighs the oversaturation part by miles.
If MJ was the cable and sat TV athlete, then LeBron was/is the high speed wifi and social media athlete - he had and still has multiples tools to boost his profile in ways not feasible or even imaginable in the 90s.
Plus, the Bad Bunny example is not a good comparison because barriers of entry in music business is indeed low in this era unlike sports so the dilution or oversaturation angle you’re using applies there but not in sports where you have to be great in measurable ways (“check my stats”, right?).
How about this tho, since we’re talking 90s, R9, the real Ronaldo had soccer on lock in the mid 90s to early 2000s (he won the worldcup in 2002) - dominating competition in different European leagues from Serie A to La Liga, the face of Nike soccer, etc and was the modern era GOAT in many people’s eyes but Messi still became the modern era GOAT. Messi and LeBron came up in the same era tho so what did Messi have that LeBron didn’t?
Again, I have Bron in my top 4 and depending on the day he’s my top 2 and I’m not trying to downplay his greatness just saying he had enough resources and tools himself marketing-wise that the “Nike machine” made MJ the GOAT argument doesn’t make sense to me.
