A passion for a sport is often passed down, generation to generation, through a love of a particular team. But when that’s not the case, we often find our way into a sport through a smaller access point: a particular player who captures our imagination, who gets their hooks into us.
Who that player is probably says more about us than it says about the player. Most little kids are plainly and openly fans of the best player they know. In basketball, it was Jordan, then Kobe, then LeBron. In soccer, maybe Ronaldinho, then Ronaldo or Messi. Children — still in the throes of figuring out what they’re going to become and how to get there — are naturally attracted to successful, talented players who embody the acme of what a human athlete can do.