This Is The Most Famous Athlete From Chicago

By Taylor Linzinmeir

August 29, 2022

3d rendering of a basketball in the net on a dark background.
Photo: Getty Images

Every state has their own "hometown hero," that one person who conquered the odds and made it big. This individual could be a musician, actor, or poet — But today we're talking about all-star athletes. Top US Casinos recently compiled a list of the most revered athletes in each state in the country.

About one third of the states (17) ranked an NBA icon as their leading star, which makes basketball the leader in terms of state selections. Football stars also dominate the selection with 14 states. Here's how Top US Casinos compiled their data:

To reveal each U.S. state’s most celebrated sporting hero, we first collected data for each of the fifty states’ most successful and prodigious athletes from Bleacher Report. From here, we analyzed each athlete’s respective Wikipedia page to assess visits during a twelve-month period between March 2020-March 2021. The athlete for each state with the most page views during this period is considered their area’s leading hometown hero.

So, who's the best of the best from Illinois? Dwayne Wade. The Chicago-native is a three-time NBA Champion, Olympic Gold medalist, and thirteen-time NBA All-Star, according to his website. He joined the Miami HEAT in 2003 and retired following his 2018-19 season.

2022 TIME100 Gala - Red Carpet
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