Culture & Entertainment

Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers Shooting Guard | United States

For helping keep the NBA wildly popular in China.

Kobe Bryant is the closest thing the NBA has to an ambassador in China, the sport’s largest market outside the United States. The “Kobe” chants heard on his annual offseason trips to China are deafening, chaos reigns at his public appearances, and his smile graces billboards from Shanghai to Shandong.