Forbes has tallied up the world's most powerful celebrities, and the Miami Heat's own LeBron James comes in at number three. Though he's not that most powerful athlete (Tiger Woods somehow still takes that one), he is the most powerful celebrity athlete from a team sport. Besides Woods, only A-listers like Oprah Winfrey, U2, Elton John, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Simon Cowell, and, this year's number one, Lady Gaga, come before him.
LeBron's power seems to derive his "power" from the endless attention the press seems to lavish on him. The rankings were broken down into specific categories and LeBron was second overall in mentions in TV and radio, and sixth overall in mentions in the written and online press. He was only 29th in media, and he ranked in the 20s in both the social media and web categories.
Kobe Bryant, at number 14, is the only basketball player who comes close to LeBron. His Heat teammate Dwyane Wade also appears on the list, but ranks way down at 57.
Two-thirds of the big three weren't the only celebs with South Florida connections to make the list.
South Florida-raised Johnny Depp is a very lucky 13. Part-time Palm Beach blowhards Donald Trump (#17) and Rush Limbaugh (#23) also made the list. Alex Rodriguez at 49 is just slightly more powerful than 50th placed Jennifer Lopez.
Apparently, numbers 84 through 86 represent a South Florida-connection sweet spot with Venus Williams, Lil Wayne and Serena Williams filling out that portion.
With Fergie's band the Black Eyed Peas coming in at 16th that means that the Miami Dolphins' owners box is actually more star filled than the Heat's locker room (and certainly the Dolphins' own locker room). Fergie, the Williams, and Lopez's husband, Marc Anthony, all own small shares in the team.
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