NEW YORK, April 26, 2012 – Reigning Kia NBA MVP Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls secured the top spots as the NBA’s Most Popular Jersey and Team Merchandise, respectively, based on sales at the temporary NBA Store on Fifth Avenue and on NBAStore.com from April 2011 to present.
Rose, who climbed from No. 5 last year to No. 1 on the jersey list for the first time in his career, helped the Bulls reclaim the top overall spot in team merchandise sales for the first time since April 2001.
At No. 2 on the list is New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin, whose breakout season also propelled him to the most popular jersey spot for February and March. Rounding out the top five are Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (No. 3), Miami Heat’s LeBron James (No. 4) and the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony (No. 5). Since 2001, Bryant has claimed the No. 1 position six times and James has held it twice.
The Knicks, who also have Amar’e Stoudemire (No. 11) on the jersey list, advanced two spots from last year to No. 2 on this year’s team list followed by the Lakers (No. 3), Heat (No. 4), and the 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks (No. 5). Prior to this year, the Lakers occupied the top spot in team merchandise since the end of the 2008 season.
Additional highlights:
• The Mavericks’ first NBA championship resulted in the team and The Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki (No. 7) both joining the top jersey and team merchandise list (No.5) for the first time since 2008.
• The Los Angeles Clippers make their presence known with two players on the list - Blake Griffin (No. 9) and Chris Paul (No. 15). The last time the Clippers featured two players was in April 2002 with Darius Miles (No. 7) and Lamar Odom (No. 8).
• The Boston Celtics were the only other team besides the Knicks with three players on the list with Rajon Rondo (No. 10), Ray Allen (No. 12) and Paul Pierce (No. 13).
This year marks the sixth season that adidas has served as the official oncourt uniform and apparel provider of the NBA.
