Recent study reveals NBA's most marketable players: LeBron James tops the pack, Derrick Rose a surprise entry on the list

LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on February 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

A recent study carried out by The Action Network revealed that LeBron James is the most marketable NBA player. He is said to be the most bankable player in the league and offers the most value to brands.

The study was carried out using 20 variables, with each of them being assigned a point in order to evaluate the influence score of every player or "Marketable Score Index". The variables were categorized into three different sections - social performance, audience ratings and overall likeability.

The social performance section covers their following across all social media platforms, growth rates, and audience engagement, et al. With the audience ratings, the player's audience demographic and their economic value were taken into consideration.

Each player's monthly search engine results and general engagement across the web (considering both negative and positive content) were considered under the overall likeability section.

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James attained the highest score, with Steph Curry placing second having scored 10.67 points. In third-place, the study revealed a shocking revelation that no one could have possibly seen coming. Derrick Rose.

According to the study, Rose surpassed the likes of Devin Booker (8.96), Luka Doncic (8.83), Giannis Antetokounmpo (8.59), Kevin Durant (8.55), Kyrie Irving (8.14), LaMelo Ball (8.04) and Russell Westbrook (7.78), who make up the rest of the top 10 list.

It would be remiss of us not to mention the absence of notable players, including the two big men from the Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers respectively, in Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

Lebron James leads the league as the most marketable NBA player with 14.18 points

LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to a play during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on February 25, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

With 20 points being the highest possible value a player could attain, LeBron James scored 14.18. James also led the league with the most earning power, as he placed first in the social performance and overall likeability categories.

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Which was obvious with his 2021 salary in the NBA ($31.5 million) being only half his off-court earnings of $65 million. His Instagram page has a following of 113 million people, being the 5th most followed athlete in the world behind Neymar, Virat Kohli, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

As of March 2021, he was the second most searched athlete in the world with 77,564,570 annual searches. Over time, this will only increase as he continues to remain relevant in his field and on the entertainment scene too.