2018'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN SPORTS CULTURE
Here at Bleacher Report, we've debated that question all year. And the answer is not some equation or another power ranking. Influence is when "we will not shut up and dribble" is an answer people listen to, because you've been to the last seven NBA Finals. And when the entire sports world watches your family vacation on Instagram, just to see where you'll go next? That's power.
Welcome to the B/R POWER 50, a definitive list of the most influential people in sports culture—athletes and celebrities who are doing the damn thing right now.
We picked 50 influencers making power moves. But this isn't just about LeBron in the Decision Cave. It's about ballers who BOSS UP, like Jimmy Garoppolo, who secured the bag in San Francisco after emerging from Tom Brady's shadow. ("I thought in my head, 'I'm better than this dude.'"). It's about groundbreakers who SHAKE IT UP, like Meek Mill, who told B/R about watching the Super Bowl from jail. ("People actually know I've been through some real s--t.") It's about game-changers who LEVEL UP on the field like Cristiano Ronaldo, and groundbreakers who SPEAK UP, as exemplified by Aly Raisman. It's also about emerging stars who GLOW UP, which...about Donovan Mitchell—can you believe that dude's still 21?
The power players on B/R's inaugural list are ranked and appreciated by 39 influential writers and fellow fans. Because the B/R POWER 50 is built to fit in your pocket, but also to expand your sense of possibility: It's a redefinition—a declaration—of the power within people to influence lives through sports, and for sports to change our culture for good.
Explore. Debate. Scroll. Tap. Celebrate. And be inspired.
—The Editors of B/R Mag
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Read MoreThe cartoon villain turned Captain America
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Read MoreThe NFL coach who refuses to blend in
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Read MoreThe secret scorpion of the kicks game
Say what you will about Drizzy, but a low-key sneaker selfie could be worth millions. Beyond the new album and the thirsty fandom, GIANCARLO FERRARI KING checks in on that shoe-deal flirtation.
Read MoreThe fearless QB making money moves with his mom
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Read MoreThe face of 2K—and nonstop social hustle
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Read MoreThe hive mind of an underdog, according to their Twitter guy
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Read MoreThe world’s best snowboarder is just getting started
Great expectations met a gold medal and then some. Marginalized communities got the voice of a new generation. JOON LEE, following a Korean American family up the mountain and back, wonders: What now?
Read MoreThe revolution will be televised
A superstar of MMA isn’t just teaming up with Charlotte Flair for ratings. The diva is dead, but pro wrestling’s better half has delivered...better wrestling. DAVE SCHILLING surveys a level playing field.
Read MoreThe joyous new face of the WNBA
When we talk about power in 2018, we’re talking viral moments more than monuments. This No. 1 pick can do it all. Superhuman pressure ain’t stopping a double threat, NATALIE WEINER writes.
Read MoreThe most dominant center in basketball
If you don’t know “Big Syl,” you better know: The WNBA MVP is part Tim Duncan, part Lisa Leslie, all heart. That, says LAUREEN IRAT, makes her an unstoppably modern legend in her prime.
Read MoreThe god of long ball plays above the rim
Unfazed by the paparazzi or pinstripes, the 26-year-old record-setter has a mind to match the muscles. And when SCOTT MILLER watches up close, it’s all or nothing.
Read MoreThe survivor will show you just how impactful one voice can be
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Read MoreThe activists picking up where Kap can’t
If Eric Reid and Co. were only still risking their jobs to protest the anthem, that’d be enough. To work directly at the divide of the United States, though, is what JAMILAH LEMIEUX still respects.
Read MoreThe voices of the NBA resistance
His rise to power ignited their activism, but Trump can’t stop Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr from boldly pushing the envelope. HOWARD BECK says that’s made it easier for more of the NBA to do the same.
Read MoreThe superstar skater is all the way out here
The bronze medalist is gay and honest about it—red-carpet bondage included. Therein, according to MICHAEL ARCENEAUX, lies the splendor.
Read MoreThe man in the mirror
The Cavs’ last man standing smashed the taboo of mental health—and that, writes BRANDON SNEED, represents a new kind of masculinity.
Read MoreThe woman who brought #MeToo to sports
The WNBA superstar became one of the first female athletes to discuss sexual abuse. But now, #MeToo founder TARANA BURKE predicts, she will be the living example of what “after” looks like.
Read MoreFrom "rookie" to megastar, just like this
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Read MoreThe MVP of the world
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Read MoreThe ballers leaving hashtags in the dust
This is bigger than just some kids balling for the hell of it. It ain’t just a finger roll—it’s a movement. KHALID SALIM breaks down what authenticity with finesse looks like.
Read MoreThe NBA’s Mr. Spectacular is now "mini-LeBron"
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Read MoreThe new definition of clutch
Notre Dame’s sharpshooter made March Madness history, but she is more than The Shot(s)—plural. As NATALIE WEINER writes, on-court swagger has translated into flexes off it.
Read MoreThe future of football is more than the future
OK, so he won the World Cup. Is he the Pele of our generation? Or something more? JOON LEE goes to France and back.
Read More"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." —MUHAMMAD ALI
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