A guy who doesn't follow a sport doesn't know anyone. Or vaguely a guy the media talks about all the time.
I know 2 MLB players by name (Ohtani & Judge), I will be unable to name an NFL player who started after 2020 and I know less than 10 NBA players. James, Anteto etc, Jokic, Doncic, Durant, Curry, Harden and that's it. However, I followed this sport until 2008.
I know that there were French guys drafted No. 1 but I don't know their names, I don't know their faces and in France they are unknown to the general public.
I know them because I go to general sports sites and because I'm interested in the prize lists. So imagine the common Europeans. The overwhelming majority do not know any of them.
The only French sportsman mostly known in France is Mbappe. Apart from Antoine Dupont, Teddy Riner, Leon Marchand, Nikola Karabatic, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, Hugo Lloris, Julian Alaphilippe, Felix Lebrun - no one is known by a significant minority. And I'm sure the guys I'm quoting speak vaguely to you.