Issue No. 2 · September 2026
    iFAMOUSby iFANN

    The monthly record of fame.

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    Issue No. 2 · September 2026

    The Most Famous Basketball Players in the World (Alive), September 2026Alive

    Top 55 of 55 ranked · September 2026 · See today's live standing →

    Living people only. The standard list, with everyone, is one click away.

    First issue under methodology v5.70. Movement begins with the next issue frozen under the same version.

    The Most Famous Basketball Players in the World (Alive), September 2026 is the September 2026 edition of the ranking, frozen and published by iFAMOUS, the monthly journal of the iFANN Global Fame Rankings.

    RankNameScore
    1
    LeBron James
    UScelebrity
    25.3
    224.0
    321.6
    4
    Stephen Curry
    UScelebrity
    20.7
    5
    Shaquille O'Neal
    USinternet personality
    16.4
    615.2
    7
    Caitlin Clark
    UScelebrity
    14.2
    813.2
    9
    Nikola Jokić
    RScelebrity
    13.0
    1013.0
    11
    James Harden
    UScelebrity
    12.8
    12
    Magic Johnson
    USpublic figure
    12.6
    1312.4
    14
    Jalen Brunson
    JEcelebrity
    12.2
    15
    Dennis Rodman
    UScelebrity
    12.1
    1612.1
    17
    Kyrie Irving
    AUcelebrity
    11.9
    18
    Kawhi Leonard
    celebrity
    11.6
    19
    Dirk Nowitzki
    DEcelebrity
    11.3
    2011.2
    21
    Paul George
    UScelebrity
    10.9
    2210.8
    23
    Larry Bird
    UScelebrity
    10.5
    24
    Steve Ballmer
    UScelebrity
    10.4
    25
    Klay Thompson
    UScelebrity
    10.4
    26
    Joel Embiid
    CMcelebrity
    10.3
    27
    Devin Booker
    UScelebrity
    10.3
    2810.2
    29
    Tony Parker
    FRcelebrity
    9.9
    309.7
    31
    Patrick Ewing
    JMcelebrity
    9.7
    329.7
    33
    Mark Cuban
    USpublic figure
    9.7
    34
    Tim Duncan
    UScelebrity
    9.4
    35
    Steve Kerr
    UScelebrity
    9.3
    369.3
    37
    Angel Reese
    UScelebrity
    9.2
    389.1
    39
    De'Aaron Fox
    celebrity
    9.1
    40
    LaMelo Ball
    celebrity
    9.1
    41
    Bronny James
    UScelebrity
    9.0
    42
    Pau Gasol
    EScelebrity
    9.0
    43
    Jeremy Lin
    TWcelebrity
    9.0
    44
    DeMar DeRozan
    UScelebrity
    8.9
    458.8
    46
    Luka Dončić
    SIcelebrity
    8.7
    47
    Steve Nash
    ZAcelebrity
    8.7
    48
    Vince Carter
    UScelebrity
    8.6
    49
    Blake Griffin
    UScelebrity
    8.6
    50
    Dwight Howard
    UScelebrity
    8.6
    518.5
    52
    Ben Simmons
    AUcelebrity
    8.5
    53
    Karl Malone
    UScelebrity
    8.5
    54
    Gary Payton
    UScelebrity
    8.0
    558.0

    About this list

    This list ranks the most famous basketball players in the world as of September 2026, by overall global fame rather than one month's attention. It is the top 55 of 55 names the rankings measured in this sector, frozen as the permanent record of that edition. This is the Alive reading: living people only. The standard reading ranks everyone, living or dead, on one scale, and is one click away.

    LeBron James is No. 1 on this list for September 2026. Behind LeBron James come Michael Jordan and Victor Wembanyama.

    What famous means here

    Fame, in iFAMOUS, is how widely the world knows a name: how recognisable a person's name, face or work is, and how well people know who they are. It is assessed from extensive historical and current public data, some of it reaching back more than twenty years, and it is not merit, talent, importance or popularity on iFANN. The rankings model real-world global fame, not internet fame; the data is the instrument, not the subject. Activity on iFANN itself is excluded.

    The month in the title is the date of this edition, not the period measured. The list is a snapshot of overall fame as it stood when the issue was frozen: a name does not lose its place because one month was quiet, and a trending moment alone does not put a name here. Trending attention is published separately on ifann.net.

    How the list was ranked

    The iFANN Global Fame Rankings combine worldwide Wikipedia readership across languages, worldwide news coverage and search interest anchored against stable reference names, with search history reaching back to 2004. A twelve-month baseline sits behind the current reading and short-lived surges are capped, so the list reflects durable recognition rather than one week of headlines. Rankings are computed daily on ifann.net and frozen on the second day of the following month as that month's issue; a published issue never changes.

    About Basketball

    Basketball is one of the sectors the journal ranks every month, alongside every country, origin and region list in this issue. Sector lists use the same rankings and the same scale as The 100, so a name can be compared across sectors and against the world. Basketball: NBA, WNBA, international leagues and college hoops.

    Powered by iFANN

    iFAMOUS is published by iFANN and powered by the iFANN Global Fame Rankings v5.70. Today's live standing for this list is on ifann.net; the journal freezes it once a month so it can be cited permanently.

    Related searches: most famous basketball players in the world 2026, top basketball players September 2026, basketball players fame ranking, most famous basketball players alive.

    Cite as
    "LeBron James, No. 1 on The Most Famous Basketball Players in the World (Alive), September 2026", iFAMOUS No. 2 (September 2026), ifamous.org

    This scope in the journal

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