The New York Knicks have topped Forbes’ list as the most valuable NBA franchise. The Knicks have surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers ($2.7 billion), who were the previous most valuable NBA franchise, with an estimated value of three billion dollars. That is incredible when taking into account that just five years ago, on their list of most valuable NBA franchises, Forbes valued the Knicks at just $655 million. That’s an increase of over 450% in just five years, a factor of the league as a whole being in its strongest shape ever, from a financial standpoint. With the new collective bargaining agreement, as well as massive TV deals both in the national and local markets, the league is in a great place financially. Case in point: the thirty teams brought in a record revenue of $5.2 billion last year, thirteen teams are valued at at least one billion dollars, and the least valuable team, the New Orleans Pelicans, is still valued at $650 million. All of these statistics show that the NBA is at a strong point, if not its strongest point, in its existence.
Meanwhile, the NBA has also released data on sales of merchandise from NBA.com between October 2015 and December 2015. Unsurprisingly, the team topping the list of sales is the champion Golden State Warriors. Rounding out the top five of this list are the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Lakers, and Knicks, in that order.
The NBA also released the top fifteen jersey-selling players in that same time period (via Pro Basketball Talk):
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
2. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
4. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks
5. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
6. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
7. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
8. Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
9. James Harden, Houston Rockets
10. Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
11. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
12. Paul George, Indiana Pacers
13. Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
14. Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers
15. Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
The top three are not too surprising. Curry has risen to fame since his MVP campaign last season, James is still regarded by many as the best player in the league, and Bryant has always been an NBA icon who is now getting an extra boost with his impending retirement.
Number four, however, is quite surprising. The fourth overall pick in the draft, Kristaps Porzingis has had a monumental rise since being booed on draft night. Since then, he has cemented himself as one of the top rookies this season and as the fan-favorite of the New York market, he has gained the extra boost needed to surpass even Kevin Durant in jersey sales. It is indeed, the year of the Zinger.
