LeBron James consistently has one of the highest-selling jerseys in the NBA, but joining the third team of his career has created quite the run on his jersey. James officially announced he’s joining the Los Angeles Lakers, and the jersey industry has exploded in the wake of that decision.
According to Fanatics, which partners with the NBA to run the league’s online team store, jersey sales for the newest Los Angeles Lakers star skyrocketed on Sunday night after James made his decision.
James didn’t announce his decision until nearly 9 p.m. on a Sunday night, but it sparked what became a top-10 sales day for Fanatics in just a few hours. In fact, Fanatics said sales were 600% higher in those hours than when James announced he was returning to Cleveland in 2014.
Darren Rovell wrote on Monday that James will wear the number 23, but that wasn’t certain when the jersey was first put up on the site.
Jerseys, with the placeholder of No. 00, went up on the site of the world’s largest seller of licensed sports jerseys at around 8:45 p.m. ET on Sunday night, roughly 40 minutes after the news broke.
James will wear No. 23, the same number he wore in both of his Cleveland stops, league sources have told ESPN.
The Los Angeles area was, no surprise, the top market for purchases. But Cleveland-based purchases made Cavaliers country the fourth most active.Jerseys won’t ship until he officially signs the deal, which can happen as soon as Friday, but it’s clear there will be a lot of brand new LeBron jerseys at Staples Center and in other arenas around the NBA this fall.
