Top 10 most marketable basketball players in 2024

LeBron James, Caitlin Clark lead an entourage of basketball players on the SportsPro list.

The fifty most marketable list 2024 edition has nearly a dozen basketball players. The players are evenly split between the NBA and the WNBA. Big names from the world of basketball, including LeBron James, Caitlin Clark, Stephen Curry, Breanna Stewart, and Kevin Durant, make up the list.

NBA veteran LeBron James continues to be a force to contend with in his 22nd season with the LA Lakers. WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark signed up with Indiana Fever after a solid  2024 season with the University of Iowa. In 2024, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball.

These two names are just the icing on the cake as they lead a list of equally competent colleagues from the men’s and women’s basketball leagues. Seven of the ten basketball players from the 2024 edition are making an appearance for the first time on the SportsPro 50 most marketable athletes roster.

10. Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant was whisked away by the Seattle Supersonics as the second overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft. This effectively ended his college career after just one season in his freshman year.

Durant averaged 20.3 points per game in his only season with the Supersonics before moving on to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he stayed for eight seasons. In the 2007-08 season with the Seattle franchise, he won the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

Three-year stints at the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors followed before ending up with the Phoenix Suns from the 2022-23 season.

Durant is a two-time finals MVP (2017, 2018) and twice All-Star MVP in 2012 and 2019.  The NBA player also has two championship rings, twice with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

9. Sabrina Ionescu

Since being picked by the New York Liberty in the 2020 WNBA draft, she made it to three consecutive WNBA All-Star games along with the All-WNBA Team thrice. In 2022, Ionescu entered the history books, becoming the first WNBA player to record over 500 points, 200 rebounds, and 200 assists in a single season. She finished with 626 points, 254 rebounds, and 228 assists.

Lonescu set the WNBA record for three-pointers across a single season in 2023 (128). She competed as part of the US women’s basketball team and helped Team USA win its eighth straight Olympic gold medal in a row with a narrow win over France.

8. Angel Reese

Angel Reese is part of the WNBA franchise Chicago Sky and is one of the league’s top rebounders. During her college days, she led Louisiana State University to the 2023 national championship. Since graduating from LSU in 2024, Reese was picked by Chicago Sky seventh overall in the WNBA draft. By September, she broke the record for most rebounds (404) in a single season in a game against the Minnesota Lynx.

In addition, the 22-year-old Chicago Sky forward made history when she registered 15 double-doubles in succession, a milestone requiring at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in a game.

7. A’ja Wilson

A’ja Wilson was picked by WNBA side Las Vegas Aces in 2018 as the first pick in round one. Wilson led the Aces to the WNBA Championships twice in 2022 and 2023. She was Rookie of the Year and made the All-Rookie Team in 2018.

Wilson is also a three-time MVP (2020, 2022, 2024), plus ending up as the MVP in the 2023 finals. The 28-year-old hailing from Hopkins, South Carolina, was part of the team that won gold in women’s basketball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Also Read: Top 16 most marketable athletes in 2024

6. Kelsey Plum

A’ja Wilson’s teammate Kelsey Plum also shared in the gold medal triumph at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The San Antonio Stars gave Plum her first break in the big league. Kelsey Plum was the first overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft to be selected by the Stars.

Plum was named Rookie of the Year just before the team became the Las Vegas Aces. Among her accomplishments was being named the 2017 AP Player of the Year and the All-Star MVP in 2022. She further won the WNBA Championships twice with the Las Vegas Aces in 2022 and 2023.

5. Breanna Stewart

Breanna Stewart made her professional debut in 2016 with the Seattle Storm. In 2018, she led the Seattle-based franchise to a third WNBA title, their first since 2010. Another WNBA title followed in 2020. After switching to New York Liberty in the 2023 season, she helped her new team win the 2024 WNBA championship.

Stewart scored two gold medals with Team USA at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. She was instrumental in helping the Americans defeat France at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the final for their eighth successive Olympic Gold Medal.

4. Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry entered the NBA with the Golden State Warriors selected seventh overall in the 2009 draft. Curry quickly assumed the role of the team’s starting point guard, his trademark long-range baskets helping the team immensely.  He is now in his 15th season with the Warriors.

Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to championships in the 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2021–22 seasons. In the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, Curry was on the top of the league leaderboard in three-pointers made at 272 and 261, respectively.

Curry surpassed 1,000 three-pointers 369th professional game in 2015, the fastest player to achieve the feat at the time. In the 2015–16 season, Curry accumulated a jaw-dropping 402 three-point shots as the Warriors clinched their first NBA title since 1975 by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers.

3. Paige Bueckers

Paige Bueckers currently plays for the UConn Huskies at the University of Connecticut. The Huskies play in NCAA Women’s Basketball’s league in the Big East Conference. Bueckers carries the nickname “Paige Buckets” for her scoring ability and picked up the Big East Player of the Year and Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2024.

In her freshman year, Bueckers bagged 581 points at 20 points per game. Now, in her senior year, she has earned 854 points at the rate of 21.9 points per game. She also was the WBCA Freshman of the Year and AP Player of the Year in 2021.

2. Caitlin Clark

The WNBA side, Indiana Fever, snapped up Caitlin Clark straight out of her senior year at the University of Iowa. During her senior year (2023–24), she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball with a haul of 3,667 points. She achieved the milestone during a dominant win over the University of Michigan in which Clark chipped in with 13 assists and a career-high 49 points, an Iowa record.

Clark enjoyed a breakthrough in 2024, setting the record for most assists (337) and most points by a rookie (769) in a single season. As a result of Clark’s efforts, Indiana made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The 2024 also fetched Caitlin Clark the Rookie of the Year award for an outstanding debut in the North American league.

1. LeBron James

The Cleveland Cavaliers chose LeBron James as the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. He claimed the Rookie of the Year award after completing his first season and won a bronze medal in his debut at the Athens Olympics in the summer of 2004.

In his second stint at Cleveland (2014-2018), he played a pivotal role in securing the franchise’s first championship. He helped the Cavaliers win the 2016 NBA championships.

During his four-year tenure with the Miami Heat, he won two NBA championships (2012, 2013) and earned two more NBA MVP awards. Two years after signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, James won his third championship and his fourth NBA title.

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