Curry, champion Warriors set jersey, souvenir sales pace

NEW YORK: Golden State guard Stephen Curry had the NBA’s most popular jersey based upon NBA store Internet sales for the past three months, the league announced Thursday, with the Warriors also leading the way in team merchandise sales.

No exact sales figures were released by the league, only a ranking order that saw Curry claim the top spot with Cleveland star LeBron James second, followed in order by Golden State forward Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving and San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard.

The Warriors defeated Cleveland 4-1 in the best-of-seven NBA Finals earlier this month, with Durant claiming the finals’ Most Valuable Player award.

Westbrook was named the regular season NBA MVP at the NBA Awards show on Monday, after becoming only the second player in league history to average a triple double in points, rebounds and assists for a full season, matching Oscar Robertson’s feat from 1962.

On the total merchandise sales list, the Warriors were aided by profits from NBA champions apparel with the Cleveland Cavaliers second, followed in order by the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics had not cracked the top five in the category in five years.

The Philadelphia 76ers were ninth and Houston Rockets in 10th for team sales but those figures are likely to jump after the Sixers took Markelle Fultz with the top pick in last week’s NBA Draft and the Rockets swung a trade deal with the Los Angeles Clippers to land star guard Chris Paul.