http://www.nba.com/news/jerseys_050419.html Shaq, T-Mac and LeBron Lead Most Popular Jersey List NEW YORK, April 19, 2005 – The Miami Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal, Houston Rockets’ Tracy McGrady and Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James lead the NBA’s list of most popular player jerseys based on sales at the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and the NBAStore.com since the start of the 2004-05 NBA preseason. The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls top the league’s list of most popular team merchandise. Reebok is the official on-court apparel provider for the NBA. The top 25 best-selling player jerseys and top 10 best-selling teams are listed below in order: Top 25 Players: 1. Shaquille O’Neal 2. Tracy McGrady 3. LeBron James 4. Stephon Marbury 5. Kobe Bryant 6. Allen Iverson 7. Carmelo Anthony 8. Vince Carter 9. Dwyane Wade* 10. Steve Francis 11. Tim Duncan 12. Ben Wallace* 13. Paul Pierce 14. Kevin Garnett 15. Yao Ming* 16. Amare Stoudemire* 17. Emeka Okafor* 18. Jason Kidd 19. Dirk Nowitzki* 20. Allan Houston 21. Kyle Korver* 22. Steve Nash* 23. Jamal Crawford* 24. Ray Allen* 25. Chris Webber Top 10 Teams: 1. Los Angeles Lakers 2. New York Knicks 3. Chicago Bulls 4. Miami Heat + 5. Philadelphia 76ers 6. Cleveland Cavaliers 7. Boston Celtics 8. Denver Nuggets 9. Houston Rockets + 10. New Jersey Nets Ten players are new to the season-end top 25 player jersey list compared to 2003-04 season-end list (as indicated by *). Two teams are new to the season-end top 10 team merchandise list compared to 2003-04 season-end list (as indicated by +)
I just read that. Not too surprising on the teams as the top teams on the list are all the biggest media markets. However, I was surprised that Kyle Korver made the list ahead of people like Jesus
Time to start producing those alternate jerseys for the 2005-06 season and apply for another Retro Night in 2006-07.
I bought the home McGrady jersey two days before the deal was completed from NBA.com and the McGrady throwback. I did my part!
Why is this list based on just one store and one website? Can't they track jersey sales across the US during the past year for something like this?
I really need to get me a new Rockets jersey. I still have the pj jersies. I am going to go get me a TMAC jersey this weekend.
that is mostly correct. I live in Philly, and you see teenage girls and suburban white kids under the age of 12 wearing his jersey everywhere. They did a promotion during the winter where kids who brought a coat to give away for charity got to meet Korver after the game for an autograph. Korver had to sign autographs for hours ... Back to the Rockets. What I think is cool is that, not only is T-Mac number 2, but Yao also in the top 15!
My wife has the road jersey and the throwback and I have the authentic throwback, so yeah I guess I did my part. The throwback they wore kind of grew on me, I kind of like them, they also had a great winning % when they wore them....
The funniest thing about that list (to me, anyway)? Orlando must REALLY be a terrible place to play basketball if the two most popular players (based on jersey sales) fly at the first available opportunity. Imagine how good they'd be if they could hold onto their stars. How long until Francis, Howard & Hill bolt to Golden State or Cleveland or anywhere but Orlando? P.S. Thanks for handing us TMac on a silver platter!
This is based on their website sales and their main store in New York city. However, there are hundreds of NBA stores worldwide. This poll is a fair representation of US sales, but not completely accurate. It's much more difficult to track sales nationwide, so they use the website and New York store as a sample. Worldwide, I am sure Yao is top 5
