Russell Westbrook remains top ten in NBA jersey sales
By Alex Mcewen
Russell Westbrook continues to disprove the common misconception that you can be a global sensation while playing for the OKC Thunder.
The NBA released numbers for jersey sales covering the period from October 2017-December 2017 on Tuesday afternoon. The list contains some new names, along with familiar ones as well.
Most notable for the OKC Thunder is that Russell Westbrook retained a spot in the top-ten, this period ending at seventh. Interestingly enough, he dropped in the rankings since last year.
After his historical MVP season I would have expected a rise in jersey sales for Westbrook. The exact number of jerseys sold is not public, so Westbrook could have sold the same amount of jersey’s as last season. Yet other players still sold more.
The Thunder’s merchandise sales overall took a hit as well. Last year in the same time-frame they ranked seventh. Fast forward one year and they have dropped to 10th. A top-10 ranking is still excellent for a small market. However, you would never like to see a drop in sales, especially with the added star power. Most expected the arrival of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony would boost merchandise sales, not decrease them. But that simply wasn’t the case.
Carmelo ranked 15th last year – he was not listed in the top-15 in this period. A change in scenery usually boosts jersey sales, but I have a feeling the impending free agency could possibly be a factor here. Especially for PG.
Other highlights from the list:
Warriors guard Steph Curry retains the top-spot for the third consecutive year. Rounding out the top ten players are the Cavaliers’ LeBron James (No. 2), the Warriors’ Kevin Durant (No. 3), the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 4), the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis (No. 5), the 76ers’ Joel Embiid (No. 6) and Ben Simmons (No. 8), the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (No. 9) and the Rockets James Harden (No. 10).
Also of note, Joel Embiid and rookies Ben Simmons and Lonzo Ball (No. 11) all made their debut on the list.
Full season jersey sales will be released in April.