Time and again, the Los Angeles Lakers prove they remain the NBA’s most recognizable brand — regardless of how well they fare on the court.
Back in October, ticketing platform TicketSource found L.A. to be the most influential basketball franchise and the second-most influential team in all sports. Meanwhile, LeBron James and the Lakers both led the league in jersey sales again this season, even though they missed the 2022 playoffs.
A new study has determined that Purple and Gold are the most searched NBA team in the U.S., beating other teams in 25 states. Sidelines.io used Google Keyword Planner to analyze the number of Google searches for each of the 30 teams spanning over the last four years. The experts looked at both the teams’ commonly searched nicknames as well as their full names.
According to a new study by https://t.co/z2dU35C0Eq the Lakers were the most Googled team in 25 states this season, by far the most in the NBA. pic.twitter.com/zqHG31KJCZ
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) May 25, 2022
The study found the Lakers with an overwhelming advantage over the rest of the NBA. The Boston Celtics came in second, racking up the highest search numbers in six states. Only three other teams topped Google searches in more than one state: the Utah Jazz, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers.
Back to the Lakers numbers, California understandably searched for L.A. the most, amounting to an average of 2.7 million online inquiries a month — the equivalent of 7% of the state’s population.
Besides the Golden State, the Purple and Gold dominated in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
Interestingly, the perennial title favorites of the last few years — the Brooklyn Nets — joined 11 other NBA teams that didn’t come out on top in any state.
Charles Barkley picks four Lakers for his ‘Mount Rushmore of NBA basketball’
The Lakers have been represented by a long list of NBA superstars over the last seven decades, which is one of the reasons why they remain basketball’s most popular team.
TNT analyst Charles Barkley recently reminded the network’s viewers of the fact, picking four players who have donned the purple and gold jersey for his “Mount Rushmore of NBA basketball.”
LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Kareem-Abdul Jabbar made Barkley’s list, joining Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Larry Bird.
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