The Los Angeles Lakers have only won nine games during the 2015-16 NBA season with everything pointing to the storied franchise missing the playoffs for a third consecutive year. Although the Lakers continue to struggle, Kobe Bryant remains one of the most popular players in the league with his jersey still among the top-selling in the NBA.
According to NBA.com, Bryant comes in third behind LeBron James and Stephen Curry (No. 1) in jersey sales:
Rounding out the top five players are the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (No. 2), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (No. 3), the New York Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis (No. 4), who earned a spot on the list for the first time after a sensational start to his rookie year, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (No. 5).
Bryant moved up a few spots from the last time jersey sales were tallied back in June of last year via NBA.com:
Bryant jumps three positions from the latest list (June 2015) to No. 3, while Durant and Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook each move up six spots to Nos. 5 and 7, respectively.
It comes as no surprise that Bryant’s jersey is still one of the top sellers in the league along with Curry and James. Kobe’s popularity never seems to waver regardless off how poorly the Lakers play.
However, rookie Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks cracking the top four is quite surprising. Porzingis has taken the league by storm and appears to be replacing Carmelo Anthony has the biggest basketball star in New York. Anthony barely made the list at No. 15.
As for D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers rookie failed to crack the list of the top-selling NBA jerseys. Lakers merchandise continues to fly off the shelves with the franchise still being one of the most popular in the league, but Russell still has a long way to go before becoming a household name with fans running to the store to buy his jersey.
