The NBA has just revealed what the top-selling player jerseys are in Australia this season – and while some big names make the cut, others are noticeably absent. Like Ben Simmons.
Did you know that Australia is one of the top five biggest international markets for the NBA? That might not be surprising, considering how sports-mad we Aussies are as well as how many basketball stars are coming out of Australia right now.
In fact, Melbourne is the city with the most No. 1 overall draft picks in the modern NBA, with stars like Ben Simmons, Andrew Bogut, Josh Giddey and even Kyrie Irving (yeah, he was born in Melbs) all hailing from the Victorian capital.
Yet none of those Melburnians have cracked the top ten for best-selling jerseys in Australia – although one Canberran has…
RELATED: Australian Players In The NBA: Who Are They?
It’s actually Patty Mills that takes the crown as the most popular Australian player when it comes to jersey sales. Mills, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets alongside Ben Simmons, is the only Aussie player whose jersey is in the top 10 best-selling Down Under.
That’s perhaps reflective of how on the nose Simmons has become for local fans… Especially in comparison to Mills, who won fans around the country by captaining Australia to a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Steph Curry takes the top spot for the most popular NBA jersey in Australia this season. That’s no doubt fuelled by Steph’s prominent role in helping the Golden State Warriors win the 2022 NBA Finals, as well as his enduring popularity.
RELATED: Steph Curry Celebrates NBA Finals Victory With ‘Classy’ New Cartier Watch
The man, the myth, the GOAT point scorer LeBron James, comes in at #2, shortly followed by the hard-to-pronounce but easy-to-like Giannis Antetokounmpo. Then, in order, it’s Jayson Tatum, Ja Morant, Patty Mills, Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan, Luka Dončić and LaMelo Ball rounding off the top 10.
It’s not just Simmons’ absence from the top 10 that’s surprising: a few big American names are noticeably absent, too. What happened to James Harden, Anthony Davis, Dame Lillard or Zion Williamson?
It’s also surprising that Josh Giddey hasn’t cracked the top, although that might change if Giddey keeps impressing this season.