Sid, what edition of the OED do you have? Because mine defines icon as "a person regarded with particular admiration". I would hold that Bader is probably held thus, rightly or wrongly, by many more people.
As a jazz musician, it galls me that Benny Goodman is hailed as a great, if not the greatest jazz clarinettist. Or Stephan Grapelli the greatest jazz fiddle player. Both are eclipsed in spades, but nothing will change the public's perceptions of them, or of Bader.