Ronaldo becomes first athlete with 50 million Facebook ‘likes’

Who is the most popular athlete in the world? Kobe Bryant? LeBron James? Matt Treanor? (OK, probably not Matt Treanor). And how would you even measure such a thing?

Well, if you use Facebook as your guide, the answer would be Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. This week he became the first athlete to reach 50 million “likes” on Facebook.

But Kobe or LeBron must be second right?

No, second place goes to soccer start Lionel Messi, with 38.5 million likes.

OK, sure, but that means Kobe or LeBron are definitely in third, right?

Nope, another soccer star. This one with local ties though. David Beckham of the Galaxy is third with 21.5 million likes.

In fact, Kobe is well back, with only 14 million likes, and LeBron trails him with 12.5 million.

Other notable local athletes:

Lakers
Pau Gasol, 3.2 million
Dwight Howard, 2.7 million
Steve Nash, 1.9 million

Clippers
Chris Paul, 1.1 million
Blake Griffin, 1.9 million
Lamar Odom, 843,000

Dodgers
Matt Kemp, 89,000
Andre Ethier, 1,800
Clayton Kershaw, 24,000

Angels
Albert Pujols, 350,000
Mike Trout, 51,000
Jered Weaver, 11,000

Kings
Jonathan Quick, 17,000
Dustin Brown, 19,000
Drew Doughty, 13,000

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