Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James moves atop jersey sales
The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James topped the merchandise and jersey sales for this past season.
The Los Angeles Lakers fell short of expectations for the 2018-19 season. After LeBron James was signed, fans and many analysts alike believed the Lakers playoff drought would come to an end.
In the early going, that looked like it was going to happen. On Christmas Day, the Lakers were in fourth place in the Western Conference with their confidence soaring after defeating the defending champion, Golden State Warriors. After that, things quickly crumbled.
Injuries began piling up. James, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo and Josh Hart all missed significant time at one point. Having so many rotation players sidelined is not an easy thing to overcome.
As a result, the Lakers playoff drought has now reached six straight years. That is the longest such streak in franchise history. Despite those struggles, James and the Lakers were as popular as ever.
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While the results on the court were disappointing, off the court things flourished. James moved back into the No. 1 spot in jersey sales in his first season with the Lakers, surpassing Stephen Curry. Curry came in at No. 2 this season.
Rounding out the top-five in individual jersey sales were Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. The rankings for the Greek Freak and Embiid are the highest of their careers.
With James’ jersey being so popular, it makes sense that the Lakers, as a whole were successful in terms of merchandise sold. The Lakers overtook the Warriors for merchandise sales, ending their three-year run at the top.
Rounding out the top-five for team sales, to no surprise, were the Celtics, 76ers and Bucks.
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Depending on how this summer shakes out, there is a chance that the Lakers will remain atop the merchandise sale list. If they are able to land another max-contract player, they will once again dominate jersey and merchandise sales as James remains one of the most popular players in the league.