Someone please confirm...

[Chico]

So..I was talking to a buddy and randomly said "Tony Parker is the biggest celebrity in France". He (non-Spurs fan) didn't seem to disagree.

My question, is this even true? Can someone confirm or give some factual French examples of his status or popularity?

Thanks for clearing this up.

[Bruno]

Parker isn't at all the biggest celebrity in France.

[Hooks]

Parker isn't at all the biggest celebrity in France.



Who is? I'm drawing a blank every time I try to think of one.

[exstatic]

Who is? I'm drawing a blank every time I try to think of one.

Jerry Lewis

[spursfan09]

Basketball is not even considered France's favorite sport. Correct?

[Bruno]

Who is? I'm drawing a blank every time I try to think of one.

Well, it's quite impossible to say who is the biggest celebrity between actors, singers, athletes...

[DPG21920]

Zidane, Henry and others are all bigger athlete celebs in France than TP.

[Bruno]

Basketball is not even considered France's favorite sport. Correct?

TV rights for the NBA in France are €2M.
TV rights for the soccer french league are €668M.

[Brazil]

No way in hell! Right now a guy like Gourcuff (young soccer player is more famous than TP unfortunately I would say). In France the two major sport team are soccer and Rugby then maybe handball for the fantastic results France has and 4th I would say basket.

[BadMoodBob]

I thought track & field was very popular in France?

[JP le Requin]

you forget tennis, vélo (bike), judo...

[Libri]

How about Franck Ribery?

[will_spurs]

No way in hell! Right now a guy like Gourcuff (young soccer player is more famous than TP unfortunately I would say). In France the two major sport team are soccer and Rugby then maybe handball for the fantastic results France has and 4th I would say basket.

I think you're underestimating TP a bit... he's quite famous, especially because Eva is also quite famous. I think everybody in France knows who Parker is (not so sure about Gourcuff just yet).

[Galileo]

Napolean? Louis the 14th? The Sun King?

[will_spurs]

Louis the 14th? The Sun King?

Let's not go into historical figures and their nicknames...

[eisfeld]

Gerad Depardieu, Sophie Marceau, Audrey Tutu, the entire TAXI cast, the French Soccer National Team, Jean Alesi and many more are without a doubt more popular than Parker in France. Basketball is not valued the same as other major sports here in Europe.

[DJB]

Wow, this thread is fucking gay.

[mosdef17]

A name that comes to mind for me is Zinedine Zidane for those of you who know your soccer players... Also, don't forget about Tony's best friend, Thierry Henry.

They're probably France's most famous SPORT stars, don't know about in general though.

[Freeze]

http://arkzel.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/sebastien_chabal_370368a.jpg

[Freeze]

I don't know about who is the most famous, but each year l'équipe makes a list of the most appreciated sportsmen.

Here is the last one :
1 . Thierry Henry 42,0%
2. Franck Ribéry 38,7%
3. Laure Manaudou 34,3%
4. Tony Parker 33,5%
5. Sébastien Chabal 28,0%
6. Sébastien Loeb 27,5%
7. Jeannie Longo 27,1 %
8. Amélie Mauresmo 26,4%
9. David Trézéguet 25,3%
10. Nicolas Anelka 21,6%
11. Olivier de Kersauzon 20,6%
12. Patrick Vieira 19,9%
13. Djibril Cissé 19,8%
14. Alain Bernard 19,4%
15. Karim Benzema 17,0%
15. Loïc Peyron 17,0%
17. Robert Pires 15,9%
18. Grégory Coupet 15,1%
18. Gaël Monfils 15,1%
18. Samir Nasri 15,1%
21. Claude Makelele 14,4%
22. Joakim Noah 14,1%
23. Frédéric Michalak 13,7%
24. Christine Arron 13,1%
25. Fabien Pelous 12,8%
26. Laura Flessel 12,7%
27. Yoann Gourcuff 10,9%
28. Brian Joubert 10,6%c
29. Fabrice Santoro 10,0%
30. Bruno Peyron 9,6%
31. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 9,0%
32. Sébastien Bourdais 8,9%
33. Florent Malouda 8,7%
34. Brahim Asloum 8,2%
35. Michel Desjoyaux 7,7%
36. Willam Gallas 7,1%
37. Richard Gasquet 7,0%
38. Steve Mandana 5,6%
39. Sylvain Chavanel 5,5%
40. Hatem Ben Arfa 5,3%

[ata]

Where is ZZ?

[Freeze]

This is the list of the most appreciated famous french people :
1/ Yannick Noah
2/ Dany Boon
3/ Gad Elmaleh
4/ Charles Aznavour
5/ Zinedine Zidane
6/ Mimi Mathy
7/ Nicolas Hulot
8/ Michel Sardou
9/ Jean Reno
10/ Sophie Marceau
11/ Jamel Debbouze
12/ Jean Dujardin
13/ Francis Cabrel
14/ Simone Veil
15/ Jean-Paul Belmondo
16/ Renaud
17/ Richard Bohringer
18/ Johnny Hallyday
19/ Gérard Jugnot
20/ Claire Chazal
21/ Franck Dubosc
22/ Muriel Robin
23/ Patrick Bruel
24/ Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
25/ Thierry Lhermitte
26/ Laurent Gerra
27/ Charlotte Gainsbourg
28/ Daniel Auteuil
29/ Jacques Chirac
30/ Florent Pagny
31/ Franck Ribery
32/ Patrick Sébastien
33/ Thierry Henry
34/ Alain Delon
35/ Michel Drucker
36/ Jean-Pierre Pernault
37/ David Douillet
38/ Alain Souchon
39/ Vincent Cassel
40/ Sébastien Chabal
41/ Alain Chabat
42/ Nicolas Sarkozy
43/ Gérard Depardieu
44/ Corneille
45/ Rama Yade <========== The hottest French Minister ever !!!!!
46/ Valérie Lemercier
47/ Jean-Marie Bigard
48/ Daniel Cohn-Bendit
49/ Ingrid Betancourt
50/ Bernard Tapie

You can find the list with pictures here :
http://www.lejdd.fr/top50/

[Freeze]

Where is ZZ?

retired

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

NBA fans are so funny. They really believe this crazy nonsense that outside of US everyone knows these NBA players.:rolleyes

[howbouthemspurs]

Ive been to france plenty of times and everytime i go I see some kind of billboard or poster with Parker on it somewhere and i see him on the front page with Eva on the gossip mags in the stores. Eveybody seems to know him. I think he is really famous over there!

[FuzzyLumpkins]

NBA fans are so funny. They really believe this crazy nonsense that outside of US everyone knows these NBA players.:rolleyes

At least you don't have to worry about that confusion with Greek players, in the NBA much less a celebrity.

[Avitus1]

Jean Reno?

[mathbzh]

Tony is very famous thanks to Eva.
But very few people know anything about his NBA (or FIBA) career.
French media don't know anything about basketball. Either they don't speak about NBA games, or they make it sound like Parker is the new Jordan.

[ShoogarBear]

the entire TAXI cast

Who would have thought Danny DeVito would translate so well?

(Yes, I know you're talking about the movie.)

[sonic21]

at least 30 actors are more famous than tony (and i'm not counting the non-french actors)

[mathbzh]

Who would have thought Danny DeVito would translate so well?

It may surprise you, but Danny DeVito is rather famous here.

[DPG21920]

It's always sunny in Paris?

[sonic21]

It's always sunny in Paris?

nobody know about this show in France though

[eisfeld]

NBA fans are so funny. They really believe this crazy nonsense that outside of US everyone knows these NBA players.:rolleyes

Now take your sentence - exchange NBA with FIBA, exchange US with Europe and you know why everybody is not amused when a V-Span thread pops up.

[iManu]

:whine Oh, they know him. At least the kids, 20 and 30-year-olds do.

:downspin: They know him because he's the fucking man. :toast

[Chico]

Good for the flawless communication and invaluable feedback..Now, can we say that Tony in France is the equivalent to Manu in Argentina?