Top 15 Most Popular NBA Jerseys
When it comes to NBA jerseys, there’s probably no bigger popularity contest or indicator. Sure some T-Mac fans can sit at home and keep voting for him to start in the All-Star Game, but are they rushing to the NBA Store in New York City or shopping on NBAStore.com for his threads? I don’t think so. With that in mind, here are the NBA’s Most Popular Jerseys since the start of the 2009-10 NBA season.
1. Kobe Bryant – Lakers
2. LeBron James – Cavaliers
3. Dwight Howard- Magic
4. Derrick Rose – Bulls
5. Dwyane Wade – Heat
6. Kevin Garnett – Celtics
7. Chris Paul – Hornets
8. Paul Pierce – Celtics
9. Shaquille O’Neal – Cavaliers
10. Pau Gasol – Lakers
11. Carmelo Anthony – Nuggets
12. Steve Nash – Suns
13. David Lee – Knicks
14. Allen Iverson – 76ers
15. Kevin Durant – Thunder
While nothing on this list is too shocking, here are a couple observations:
- How is David Lee on this list? Sure he plays in New York and is the fan favorite, but to see more jerseys than Durant (and even Iverson) is kind of crazy to me.
- Next year, a lot of these guys are going to sell even more jerseys after they switch teams in free agency. I’m looking at you Bron, Shaq and Lee.
- Why is no one buying Dirk Nowitzki jerseys? And where is Brandon Jennings on this list? I can understand why no one wants an Amar’e Stoudemire or Chris Bosh jerseys, because they’re soon to be throwbacks.
- I wonder how many jerseys Gilbert Arenas sold this year, and what the NBA did with all the extra stock when he was suspended.
- Does anyone, besides Austin, own a Tim Duncan jersey?
- When will Brandon Roy crack the Top 15?
What are your thoughts?
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January 20th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
control says:
Ian owns several Tim Duncan jerseys…
How is Allen Iverson still selling like that? The guy is DONE, FINISHED.
Shaq is another surprising one, though I bet 80% of the sales were before the season started and people seen how old he’s looking.
I bet there are A LOT of Hatians wearing Arena jerseys right now…full tax write off eh?
January 20th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Name (required) says:
its not that shocking that more people want a New York Jersey than an Oklahoma one is it.
Lebron would be No.1 if he didnt play in Cleveland and Melo would be Higher if he played anywhere else.
Paul Peirce Jerseys are the biggest surprise…… those have been exactly the same for like a million years, whos still buying them?
January 20th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Pet Society Help says:
How in the world is David Lee in this list? The token white American guy? Why isn’t the 1/8th Filipino on the list Nate Robinson?
January 20th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
help says:
http://www.slate.com/id/2241241/pagenum/all/#p2
January 20th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Heckler says:
truth is, no one cares about NBA player jerseys anymore. they’re not an indicator of anything. its not like the NFL.
when you go to an NBA game, hardly any of the fans are wearing jerseys. in the NFL, about 45% of the fans at a game are wearing a jersey supporting one of the two teams playing. the NBA aint like that.
it hardly matters.
unless they are retro jerseys, i doubt the viewing public gives a shit. shit, i doubt the NBA gives a shit.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Celts Fan says:
@Name Required – they’re selling now cuz of all the bandwagon fans here that couldn’t tell you who our starting PG was in ’02 (Kenny Anderson,) or why we sucked so much in the late 90′s (hello 3rd option, David Wesley.) These bandwagoners are jumping aboard and buying what I’ve had to replace twice and pretending they been fans all along. Also, the Cs are finally realizing what everyone else did 5 years ago – that if you come out with a ton of alternate unis, people will buy them. I’ve seen waaaaaaaay too many of those green and black joints (those things are fugly) and quite a few St. Patty’s Day ones (the traditional C’s uni with some yellow and gold mixed in – also quite fugly.)
January 20th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
P Didy says:
Monta Ellis.
Where is he on this list?
Golden State has the best fans in the NBA and we love our Monta.
Surprised that he didn’t make the cut … but this same sort of thing will probably happen for the All-Star Game too …
January 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
silky says:
i looked at my closet the other day and saw some of my jerseys from when i was a kid: #1 regret= glen robinson purple milwaukee. #1 fav= teal grandma-ma charlotte
January 20th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
s.bucketz says:
smartest thing kobe did was change his number or else lebron would be in the top spot…if david lee switches teams aint no1 coppin his jersey..i duno y soo many people have gotten them this year wit the possibility that hes leavin soon…i was thinkin bout investing in a gallinari joint but i said fuck it now im jus loookin for a john starks jersey(duno wut i did wit my old one and doubt it fits anyway)
January 20th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Soopa says:
Didnt expect D-Rose to be that high. I guess the big market thing really is a big deal.
If David Lee can crack this list imaging what a Wade/James-ish player could do in NY.
Nexy year Durant cracks the top10 if not top5. He is about to blow up.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Heckler says:
NYers aint buying those jerseys. real NYers dont go shopping on madison avenue or whereever the hell that bullshit NBA store is.
its tourists.
being in a big market doesnt hurt, but it aint helping that much. LA Clips are in a big market, and they aint selling no damn jerseys!
its the tourists who visit big cities like NY, Chitown, LA and all that who are buying the jerseys. not the locals.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Tbone says:
@ Name (Required)
Melo would sell more if he played anywhere else? How about Milwaukee? Or Toronto? Or Indiana? Or…….
Yeah, um, NO…….try again
January 20th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
mike says:
derrick rose is a star, but the bulls need another guy to help him out.other teams double team rose the moment he touches the ball and besides his first month of the season because of injury he has came thru big,he will get better and become a top 5 player,but if a lebron or wade went to chicago they would win titles for sure,they have a young team on the rise
January 20th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
mess says:
After all the Boozer-hoopla this summer, the Jazz affiliated store was selling his at half-price.
January 20th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
zaboo says:
Watching the spurs puts people to sleep. Instead of jerseys the nba should market nightgowns or snuggies for that team. Go Rockets!
January 20th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ “smartest thing kobe did was change his number or else lebron would be in the top spot”
what???
I assume these numbers are American sales and not worldwide right?
January 20th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Diego says:
@ Heckler: I think some fans still buy NBA jerseys, but it definitely is not same standard gear as for the NFL–or NHL (very prevalent)–gear for an attendee.
There also are a lot of other nice warmup, t-shirt, sweatshirt, polo shirt, etc. NBA team options to jerseys, and I am generally pretty impressed with the nice (but usually pricey) offerings in my team’s arena shop.
Also concur with Celts fan that this game of introducing alternate unis every other year or so is a nice $ maker for teams and the NBA, as there are some fans that just gobble up new ones.
January 20th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
srb says:
The t-shirts that look like jerseys, with the numbers and player names, are probably selling double what a jersey does. they cost half as much, and I see tons of people wearing them when I go to a Celtics game. even at the pre-season game they played in Hartford tons of people had the t-shirt style. I was pretty impressed actually how many people had celtics gear on, and it wasn’t even in Boston.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Ian says:
control
hell no i would never buy a jersey.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Ian says:
aron on your tim duncan question do you write articles without doing any research??
tim duncan has the tenth best selling jersey this past decade
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Top-10-most-and-least-popular-jerseys-from-the?urn=nba,73743
January 20th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
In-N-Out Lucas says:
Not Derrick Rose? Hmm.. Surprising!
January 20th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Austin Burton says:
Not only do I have a Duncan jersey, I have a #21 Austin Toros D-League jersey. It has my own name on it with a spur in place of the “U.” How cool is that?
I think Durant jerseys would sell better if they weren’t so ugly.
I wonder who will show up on this list first, Tyreke or Jennings?
January 20th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
sh!tfaced says:
@Pet Society Help
LOL. Still lovin’ those 1/8 jokes. The Nate jerseys will sell once the 1/8 news will hit the mass market. But the knock off jerseys will prolly sell more.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
bola says:
@aron
“Next year, a lot of these guys are going to sell even more jerseys after they switch teams in free agency. I’m looking at you Bron, Shaq and Lee.”
i am quite lazy too Google this up but i don’t think shaq will be a free agent next year.. two years more with the cavs after this year right? He might be traded since he is kinda useless for the cavs..
January 20th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Pais says:
David Lee’s jersey sales got nothing to do with playing in NY, the guy shares the same last name as every fifth Chinese guy
January 20th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
bola says:
@shitfaced
i agree, with the current economy.. knock offs will outsell genuine jerseys 100 to 1 (wild guess)..
every wannabe baller (almost every male pinoy) will be copping those nate jerseys..
January 20th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
James says:
Hey guys, just wondering if anyone knew where i could find the 2001/2002 season Nba Jerseys (any team) they can be distinguished by the american flag patch which is situated on the right hand side of the jersey. The patch was in rememberance of the september 11 attacks.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
JD says:
Regarding to the Lee Jersey: Because there’re millions of Chinese/Korean fans with the last name “Lee”.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
James says:
Hey u know it would be sweet if someone could reply i mean ive surfing the net for these 2001 september 11 patch jerseys. If anyone doesn’t understand me im talking about the season where they had the American flag patch in the top corner of there jerseys . If anyone knows where buy them HOLLA
January 21st, 2010 at 12:44 am
Paul says:
I’m from Philly and we love A.I that’s why he’s on the list the players I was surpsised about were lee and rose… Don’t get me wrong Rose is a good player but 4th that’s insane and lee wow I didn’t think he was the most popular man on his team I have no idea how he was up so high I think Ellis should be up there that dude is the man I would love to see him in a 76 uniform
January 21st, 2010 at 2:44 am
James says:
Oi boneheads.. see how i made a response.. yea it would be kinda good if someone could say hey naw sorry dude we dont know where those jerseys are/ or they dont exist . or yes u can find them at this address Etc. I betting ur all from america so helping each other isnt really on the agenda is it. Look once again- Q: Does anyone know where i could find a 2001/2002 nba jersey with the american flag patch logo on the jersey. they wore these patches as Sign of respect for sept 11 attacks. Jesus.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Yo says:
D-Rose is a BEAST!!!! If D-Wade comes to Chicago next season, lots of titles are to come
March 18th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Syrymflash says:
#1, Allen Iverson’s jersey is still being sold because most of people don’t think like you. His true fans will always buy his jersey.