Wayne Rooney, Kobe Bryant and the Most Popular Sports Figures on Earth

All of us have a favorite athlete. And I’m sure most of us watch a certain sport for a particular player.

Wayne Rooney, a soccer player from Manchester United, and Kobe Bryant, a basketball player from the Los Angeles Lakers, fall in this category.  Rooney is the Red Devils’ favorite right now and basketball fans idolize Bryant.

The list includes people who have not yet retired, have tremendously contributed to their sport's popularity or are simply very talented and globally known.   

The subjects of the following slideshow are listed in random order.

If you think I’m forgetting someone, please include his or her name in the comments section.   

Wayne Rooney

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney didn’t make soccer famous, but fans, as well as tabloids, love him. Rooney was the 13th-most-searched person on Google, with 29 million results.

Whether it’s for his marital problems, hair transplant, on-pitch performance or, most recently, suing Rupert Murdoch's News International over alleged News of the World phone hacking, he is in the news.

He appears to be unaffected by the noise surrounding him, as he continues to be irreplaceable on the Red Devils squad and scores every other game. In the 30 games so far in the Premier League, he has 24 goals on 139 shots and four assists.

There was one semi-low point in his career when he announced in 2010 he wanted to leave Manchester United and shocked the world. Eventually, he had a change of heart once he agreed to weekly earnings of £250,000, which roughly translates to a little over $400,000. Fans resented him for a few weeks, but soon forgave him because he kept scoring almost every match.

Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant is going through a renaissance at 33 and is still the cornerstone of his team.

I can’t say whether he’s getting better and better, because he has always been regarded as one of the best. He’s averaging 27.9 points per game during the 2011-12 regular season. His career PPG is 25.4.

One-time NBA Most Valuable Player Bryant is often compared to retired superstar Michael Jordan, who has six championships to Bryant's five.

Even though Bryant’s international career started in 2007 at the FIBA Americas Championship, which Team USA won, Bryant was already a basketball icon. He was on the team when the Lakers won the NBA championship three years in a row, from 2000 until 2002, while working closely with the MVP of all three Finals, Shaquille O'Neal.

Ronnie O’Sullivan

Three-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan didn’t make snooker more popular, but he certainly made it more entertaining.

Nicknamed “The Rocket,” he is known for his fast playing style. He holds the record for the fastest maximum break of 147 points in five minutes and 20 seconds.

He shares the record of scoring the most maximum breaks in professional snooker, a total of 11, with Scottish player Stephen Hendry. 

O’Sullivan is just as famous for his boisterous personality. He has hinted on several occasions that he didn’t mind quitting the game. He also has openly criticized other players’ styles and refereeing.

He called Peter Ebdon, his next opponent at the most prestigious competition, the 2012 World Snooker Championship, slow at baize. O’Sullivan was calling for the referees to be more strict with players when they play too slowly.

Michael Schumacher

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher hasn’t won the title since 2004, but is still one of the most talked-about drivers.

He came out of retirement in 2010 driving for Mercedes. Still, he is one of the most celebrated drivers in the sport.

He has the most race wins—a total of 91 in his Formula 1 career. He holds the record for the most season wins. Schumacher won 13 out of 18 Grand Prix in 2004. That is 72 percent of the races.

He takes the cake the “most consecutive drivers' championships” category. Schumacher won the championship five times in a row, starting in 2000 and finishing in 2004. All of these were won in a Ferrari.

Schumacher is one of those people who you either love or hate. He wants to win at all costs. Over the years of his professional career, he has been a part of several accidents, including the death of F1 legend Ayrton Senna. Schumacher was often accused of dangerous driving, but was rarely punished.

In 2010, he was the 22nd-most-searched person on Google, with nearly 17 million results.

Usain Bolt

The "Lighting Bolt" has won over a lot of fans by easily breaking world and Olympic records.

The fastest man on the planet, running 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, is also quite charismatic and always looking to engage the audience.

He wants to beat that record and run a 9.4 in the Olympic final this summer in London. All eyes are on him.

Michael Phelps

Another athlete who has the pressure of everyone watching him is the most famous swimmer today.

After winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and setting world and Olympics records in the meantime, Phelps is now considered to be the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time. At least that is what swimming legend Mark Spitz says.

The smoking scandal three years ago increased his search results on Google, but didn’t change his status as a global sports icon.

Jeremy Lin

"Linsanity" is dead, at least until the playoffs, due to a knee injury, but he still deserves a place on this list. He became an overnight sensation in the NBA, breaking the stereotype that Asian-American guards couldn't make it in the NBA.  

He is also often credited for saving the New York Knicks' season at a time when Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire were not able to play.

He was the underdog who slept on his teammate’s couch and made fans at Madison Square Garden shout “MVP! MVP!” after a just few games.

Time magazine has named Jeremy Lin to its annual list of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World."

It’s a tale of the underdog; people like these kind of stories. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a movie coming out in a couple of years about Linsanity.

Lionel Messi

Of course, Lionel Messi, arguably the best player in the world who broke Barcelona's 60-year-old goal-scoring record a month ago, is listed here.

He scored a hat trick in a 5-3 win over La Liga rival Granada at Camp Nou Stadium.

He is only 24 and has already won the World Player of the Year award and the Ballon d’Or three years in a row (2009, 2010 and 2011).

Whether playing for Barcelona in La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League or the national team of Argentina, Messi is always the man to stop.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo is also a fantastic player. He is currently the top scorer in La Liga, with 42 goals—one more than Messi.

Ronaldo became the most expensive soccer player in 2009 when he was transferred to FC Real Madrid for $131 million.

He is often compared to Messi in terms of skills, but Ronaldo has certainly advanced in another area: his modeling career with Armani and Pepe Jeans. Ronaldo also made headlines with his personal life, announcing out of the blue in 2010 that he had become a father.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods’ success, sex scandal and recovery are well-known facts. Other than being an immensely talented golfer, he is on this list for one more reason: I would argue that golf is an Olympic sport again because he said he would play at the Olympics.

Because of Woods' international fame, if he participates, more people will watch. If he doesn’t, whether golf will be shown on TV is questionable.

He said in August 2009 that he would play in 2016 if golf were an Olympic sport. The sport was voted in two months later. I’m not saying this is a cause-and-effect situation; I’m only saying that Woods, in my opinion, was certainly a factor.

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova is a talented tennis player who has the potential to be the dominant player in women’s tennis.

She just turned 25, but it feels like we’ve known her forever. It started when she won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004. She charmed everyone by winning one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world at 17.

Then, there was a dry period of two years until she won the U.S. Open in 2006. Questions like “Is she the next Anna Kournikova?" arose. She was more famous for her endorsement deals than her tennis talent.

Sharapova proved all critics wrong. She recovered from a shoulder injury that required surgery and put her out of the game for 10 months. She is currently No. 2 in the world, only 1,050 points behind No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.

Venus and Serena Williams

The Williams sisters dominated women’s tennis for a decade in singles and doubles.

Two inspirational players and two fighters, they both have been struggling with injuries over their dominant era. Venus has Sjogren's syndrome and Serena has had to recover from blood clots in her lungs.

But both have always managed to find their way back onto the court and win. That’s how they became legends of this sport.

Top 3 in Men’s Tennis

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have brought men’s tennis to a whole new level.

Their sportsmanship requires respect. Their personality entertains fans. Their talent demands admiration.

The Federer-Nadal rivalry was one of the strongest and most entertaining—a tennis fan’s dream. Quality tennis every match with a striking contrast between the two. Federer is calm and patient; Nadal is emotional and loud. 

Then Djokovic came along to dethrone them and create a new rivalry, which is just as entertaining.