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While the LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan debate may rage on the blogosphere in terms of hoop skills, it has mostly been taken for granted that His Airness would always be more popular than King James.
Until now.
A Harris Poll conducted between June 11th and June 16th (with 2,241 participants) found that LeBron James, for the first time ever in a Harris Poll, is more popular than Michael Jordan. In fact, LeBron ranked as the most popular athlete in America, period. MJ came in second. And this poll was taken before LeBron announced his return to Cleveland.
As for the rest of the top ten most popular athletes, Derek Jeter got a nice boost which can probably be attributed to his farewell tour. Tiger Woods plummeting to eighth place is not surprising given his recent struggles on the links. The rest of the list is fairly consistent. The only athletes to fall out of the top ten from last year were Phil Mickelson and Tim Tebow.
Still, if you had said that LeBron James would one day be more popular than Michael Jordan after “The Decision”, I would have bet you anything that you’d be wrong (and be very, very broke).
What a difference a year makes.
