Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and other members of the U.S. Men’s National Basketball Team are in Beijing, seeking a gold medal at the Summer Olympics. But Bryant and the others already have struck gold regarding the sale of their official NBA jerseys in China.
For the second consecutive season, Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers had the top selling NBA jersey in China, based on sales at the two NBA Stores in Beijing, at the NBA’s China Web site and at more than 30,000 retail locations throughout Greater China where NBA merchandise is available.
Also among the top sellers, James’ Cleveland Cavaliers jersey is No. 7, Wade’s Miami Heat jersey in No. 8 and Howard’s Orlando Magic jersey is No. 9. They all are outpacing Yao Ming, who is a member of the Chinese National Team at the Olympics but whose NBA Houston Rockets jersey is only No. 10 on the list.
Although specific figures were not disclosed, the NBA said in a statement that sales at two NBA stores–which opened in mid-July (at the Xindongan Plaza in the Wanfujing, Dongcheng District and at The Place in the Chaoyang District in Beijing)–“have exceeded projections by nearly 70% in their first two weeks.”
The other best-selling jerseys among the top 10 are: No. 2 Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics), No. 3 Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets), No. 4 Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics), No. 5 Allen Iverson (Denver Nuggets) and No. 6 Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards).
