We asked Ben Alamar, ESPN's director of sports analytics, to figure out the most famous athletes in the world. Using a formula that combines athlete paychecks - salary and endorsements - with social media fan base and Google search popularity, he ranked the world's 100 most famous athletes. Here is the ESPN World Fame 100.
The Houston Rockets landed two players on our list:
No. 36 Dwight Howard
IT'S GOOD TO BE: Wanted. Dwight Howard is part of a dying breed -- a classic, defense-first NBA center. He's 30 and has taken a team to the conference finals only twice. But four clubs -- Milwaukee, Orlando, Portland and Charlotte -- are supposedly interested in pursuing him if he opts out of staying with Houston to sign with his fourth team in six years.
No. 54 James Harden
IT'S GOOD TO BE: A maverick who helped start the Fear the Beard movement in sports, and proved after being traded from Oklahoma City to Houston that his ambitions of being The Man weren't silly.
