Adin Ross Believes LeBron James Could Hit 50M YouTube Subscribers in 3 Days

Soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo recently shattered numerous YouTube records with the launch of his personal channel, quickly hitting 1, 10, and 20 million subscribers faster than anyone else. Streamer Adin Ross believes LeBron James could challenge those records if he started his own YouTube channel.

“I do wanna say one thing. If LeBron James made a YouTube today, he’d be at 50 million in three days. Facts. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

I hate to burst his bubble, but LeBron James wouldn’t be able to match Ronaldo’s YouTube achievements. This isn’t a slight against James, but football’s global reach far surpasses that of basketball. Ronaldo is also one of the most-followed people worldwide, so it’s unrealistic to think LeBron could compete with that popularity.

For comparison, Ronaldo has 637 million followers on Instagram, while LeBron has 160 million—a difference of nearly half a billion. Even on X, a platform where LeBron is more active, James has 53 million followers compared to Ronaldo’s 122.7 million.

LeBron is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous athletes. However, competing with soccer stars like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of popularity is futile. These soccer icons are recognized worldwide in a way no basketball player has ever been, not even Michael Jordan. The global reach of soccer overshadows basketball, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

If James were to launch a YouTube channel, he’d certainly skyrocket up the subscriber charts and set his own records, but nothing on par with what Ronaldo accomplished on YouTube. We already have a comparison, with LeBron launching a podcast earlier this year alongside his new head coach JJ Redick.

The ‘Mind The Game’ podcast quickly became one of the biggest basketball podcasts globally, amassing 654K subscribers on YouTube for just four episodes. This number pales in comparison to Ronaldo’s YouTube success.

‘Mind The Game’ catered purely to basketball fans, limiting the audience James could attract. A personal lifestyle LeBron channel would probably be more popular but still wouldn’t reach Ronaldo’s numbers.

Michael Jordan Once Admitted LeBron James Would Become More Popular Than Him

LeBron’s popularity today is comparable to the kind Michael Jordan enjoyed during his peak, although I’d argue Jordan was still more popular. Over time, newer faces become more prominent while older figures fade from the limelight.

Jordan has acknowledged that he will eventually start fading from people’s minds, admitting that James could surpass his popularity in 20 years.

“So when you sit there and you say I was voted the most popular athlete, it’s ironic that I’m the youngest of the three. So in essence, it’s all related to who is watching now.”

“If you ask 20 years from now, I’m pretty sure LeBron [James] may beat me. If you ask me, I can never give you an opinion about things like that. As an athlete, all you ever want to do is be the best athlete that you can.”

In day-to-day life, we see and hear more about James since he’s an active basketball player and a major media figure. Jordan prefers to stay in the background. Over the years, James will probably become more widely known until he’s eventually overtaken by someone like Victor Wembanyama or the next NBA megastar.

Source: Fadeaway World