The NBA’s most popular jersey? Kobe Bryant
Remember when Kobe had that sexual assault case? It was like he was trying to win that case on the court…It’s like the judge threw him the ball and was like “I’ll play you for your freedom”
– Dave Chappelle
The NBA just released its list of most popular jerseys, and Kobe Bean Bryant tops the list again (he briefly lost his spot last year to Kevin Garnett). As if I needed reassurance, this list has done nothing more than reiterate the point that any upper echelon sports figure is redeemable…if they provide the fans with the entertainment they crave (i.e. playing well), and show even the slightest bit of contrition. Before I get all preachy though, some info on the list,
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant excels on the hardwood and dominates on the racks, topping this year’s list of most popular NBA jerseys. Bryant reclaimed the No. 1 spot, which he held in 2006-07, after being overtaken last year by the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett. The list is based on sales at the NBA Store in New York City and NBAStore.com since the start of the 2008-09 NBA season through April 2009…
Fans continue to demand Los Angeles Lakers merchandise as the team tops the NBA’s list of most popular team merchandise. Lakers merchandise has been the most popular among fans for six out of the last seven seasons…
2008-09 marks the third season with adidas as the official on-court uniform and apparel provider for the NBA and sales of NBA jerseys increased 7 percent over last year at the NBA Store and NBAStore.com combined.
First off, its interesting to note that NBA jersey merchandise sales rose 7% even in the face of a recession. Maybe the recession hasn’t effected sports merchandise as much as most would have thought? Or maybe NBA jerseys are at an affordable price point regardless of the economic times? Who knows. Obviously, an increase in jersey sales is not representative of the profitability of the entire league, but I’m sure that David Stern can, and will hang his hat on the strong merchandise sales (Is he possibly relying on the strength of the NBA brand too much? Sometimes, yes.)
Now, back to Mr. Bryant. Like I mentioned before, athletes can always get back into the good graces of the sports world, and arguably society at large, if they play well and show the slightest bit of contrition. America wants to forgive athletes. They’re heroes. They are placed on pedastals. They don’t make mistakes…or if they do, we can easily glean over them. Do you think that Eliot Spitzer will ever live down his incident with a hooker? No. He will always be, “Eliot Spitzer, the former governor involved in the prostitution ring.” No one refers to Kobe, as “Kobe Bryant, the guy accused of rape in Colorado”, he’s just “Kobe” or “Black Mamba” or “Greatest player in the NBA”. Why? because America mytholgizes great athletes, in part because they do things that the nation at large can’t do. Anyone can argue that they might be able to be governor of a state with the right team around them, but only a handful can say that they can score 81 points against an NBA team. We want, no, we need athletes to be perfect. Sports is our escape mechanism, and whenever the real world interferes with our escape, we’re willing to go to great lengths to ensure that balance is restored. “Say your sorry, and continue to entertain us, and everything is alright.” I think the guy who sold the most NBA jerseys this year would agree with that assessment.
And anyone who doubts? Lets just wait and see what happens with Mike Vick, shall we?
NBA.com — Bryant reclaims place as NBA’s most popular jersey
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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If there would be a decrease for the players, it might have great impact on them and their performances is at stake. I hope that the passion would still be there.
Regarding the declared lost, there might something wrong. But i still don’t want to judge. Lets just hope that this will be settled and hope that the life of NBA will still remain.