Heat enters top five in NBA merchandise sales for first time since Big 3 era
These are good days for the Miami Heat on the court and off the court.
The Heat ranks fourth in team merchandise sales at NBAStore.com since the league restarted the season (from July 30 through Monday), the NBA announced Wednesday.
It marks the first time the Heat has been in the top five in team merchandise sales since the final season of the Big 3 era in 2014, when the roster included Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
The only four teams ranked ahead of the Heat on the list were the No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers, No. 2 Boston Celtics and No. 3 Chicago Bulls. The No. 5 Golden State Warriors rounded out the top five.
The Heat also has a player ranked in the league’s top 10 on the jersey sales list. All-Star forward Jimmy Butler ranks 10th, which was also determined based on NBAStore.com sales from July 30 through Monday.
It marks Butler’s first appearance in the top 10 on the jersey sales list since the 2018-19 regular season.
Rookie Tyler Herro has the second-most popular Heat jersey, as he finished just outside the top 15 at No. 16. He averaged 19.2 points on 52.3 percent shooting, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists in the conference finals.
Herro has also gained the second-most social media followers among players who participated in the restart behind only James, according to the NBA. Herro has added a total of 792,955 followers across Instagram and Twitter since the July 30 resumption of the season.
The Heat and Lakers begin their best-of-7 NBA Finals series Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista.
Top 15 Most Popular NBA Jerseys:
1. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
2. Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
3. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
4. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
6. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
7. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
8. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
9. Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers
10. Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
11. Kemba Walker, Boston Celtics
12. Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets
13. Russell Westbrook, Houston Rockets
14. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
15. Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Top 10 Most Popular Team Merchandise:
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Miami Heat
5. Golden State Warriors
6. Toronto Raptors
7. Dallas Mavericks
8. Milwaukee Bucks
9. Portland Trail Blazers
10. Denver Nuggets
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 3:55 PM.
