This No. 1 selling NBA jersey graphic makes no sense

Lids jersey sales are a trip down memory lane for NBA fans.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers dominate jersey sales at Lids. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but Alabama is where things get weird.

The results in some of these states are bizarre. Michael Jordan makes sense in Illinois, right? Steve Smith leading the way in Idaho makes no sense either. Mike Bibby leads all jersey sales in Alabama and Yao Ming is the king of Montana.

Here’s the NBA’s top selling Player & Team jerseys by state at @Lids this season:

• @KingJames & @Lakers are #1 in 30 states
• @Bulls are best sellers in 8 states
• Retired players are top sellers in 14 states
• Mike Bibby has the best-selling player jersey in Alabama pic.twitter.com/gcsoh921RO

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) February 17, 2022

ESPN’s Nick DePaula added context in a subsequent tweet. Apparently, this data is pulled from store locations; Alabama and Montana only have five and one locations, respectively. That explains the Mike Bibby and Yao Ming appearances on this list, but it doesn’t make it any less jarring to see.

Pennsylvania and Massachusetts deserve credit for bucking the LeBron James trend. Philly fans are as loyal to Allen Iverson as maybe any Sixer. As for Boston fans, they have chanted “BEAT LA!” way too many times to buy up all the Lakers jerseys. That’s before we even acknowledge the rivalry LeBron had with Boston when he was in the Eastern Conference.

New Yorkers shouldn’t feel too bad about LeBron finishing No. 1 in the Empire State. To a certain extent, those numbers are going to be split between Knicks fans, Nets fans, and general NBA fans.

Not to mention, the average Lids store is probably stocked with more LeBron jerseys than anyone else. I’d love to see a graphic of the online jersey sales in each state.