Warriors, Cavaliers, 76ers Lead NBA Merchandise Sales for 2017-18 Regular Season
It should come as no surprise that the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers had the best-selling merchandise this season, but they were joined atop the leaderboard by an up-and-coming team.
According to the NBA, Golden State, Cleveland and the Philadelphia 76ers sold more merchandise than any other team in the league:
Per ESPN's Darren Rovell, this is the highest the Sixers have finished in sales since the 2002-03 season. Winning—as the Warriors and the Cavaliers show—is a key to bringing in the dough. Philadelphia (52-30) finished with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Having marketable stars also helps. Philadelphia had a pair of top-10 jersey sellers in All-Star Joel Embiid (No. 8) and Rookie of the Year favorite Ben Simmons (No. 10).
Rovell notes it is the third straight year Stephen Curry finished in the top spot for jersey sales. Kyrie Irving finished fifth in his first year with the Boston Celtics, and MVP favorite James Harden came in ninth in his sixth year in Houston.
For those curious, the second pick in last year's draft, Lonzo Ball, finished 12th in jersey sales in his first season.
This season was a landmark year for NBA uniforms. It was Nike's first year as the league's official uniform provider, and it marked the first time teams were able to sell advertising space on the jerseys.
With the change from Adidas to NBA, there were plenty of new jerseys across the Association, including Statement uniforms.
