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Pretty sure he doesn’t even crack the top 15 players in jersey sales. He’s potentially a 3 time MVP and for some reason you would assume he would be more popular among the fans but this isn’t the case relative to the other top players. I can’t think of any legitimate reason why this is, even casuals know who Jokic is. Players like Lamelo Ball, Devin Booker, and Ja Morant all generate more Jersey sales, and two of them are in smaller markets than Denver. So what’s to give?

I just don't like basketball jerseys much. Would like to buy a Jokic t-shirt, though.

One reason could be his personality. He is a rather quiet guy who doesn't talk much about himself and doesn't make headlines. That's (unfortunately) a factor in the popularity of a player. The casual fan probably thinks he is boring.

Fans like to live vicariously through their favorite player, imagine themselves as that person, and nobody wants to be the big ugly, boring (personality) guy, no matter how skilled and dominant he is.

Hussien Fatal wrote:Pretty sure he doesn’t even crack the top 15 players in jersey sales. He’s potentially a 3 time MVP and for some reason you would assume he would be more popular among the fans but this isn’t the case relative to the other top players. I can’t think of any legitimate reason why this is, even casuals know who Jokic is. Players like Lamelo Ball, Devin Booker, and Ja Morant all generate more Jersey sales, and two of them are in smaller markets than Denver. So what’s to give?

1. small market, 2. cannot relate (center not cool), 3. no city or ncaa fan base compared to Ball, Booker and Ja, 4. not a fully validated name yet (a Finals MVP will change everything)

Not that many Serbs out there, he seems to have no interest in being famous most people wouldn't know what he sounds like, Nuggets aren't a huge market, he's not the most marketable looking guy, doesn't dunk, hasn't had a huge amount of playoff exposure to get the casuals paying attention, it's lots of things.

Jerseys are about personality. Jokic projects being a savant at his job and doing like nothing else. Do people really want to channel that energy?

I think I'd like to have one if I was Serbian or a Nuggets fan or a hardcore Jokic fan, and it'll be a dope retro jersey in the future once he's retired. But otherwise, it's bland.

Also doesn't help that it's the Nuggets and not the more popular teams.

Serbs do not buy jerseys. In European ultras culture, wearing jerseys to games is considered something that only casual fans do, so fans are buying clothing made by their ultras groups and not jerseys and shirts from official shops of the teams. Hence, when fans are not even buying jerseys of their home teams, it is unlikely that they will ever buy jerseys of the team Jokic is playing for.

Now regarding the US market, he's obviously not that attractive to non-Nuggets fans, so I don't find this surprising at all, given the fact that Denver is a small market.

TheShow2021 wrote:Fans like to live vicariously through their favorite player, imagine themselves as that person, and nobody wants to be the big ugly, boring (personality) guy, no matter how skilled and dominant he is.

Jokic is not ugly.

He's not marketable or flashy. He's in the Tim Duncan mold of great players that have no desire to be famous.

The market size doesn't matter. Ja and Giannis are in the top 5 and both of their markers are smaller than Denver.

TheShow2021 wrote:Fans like to live vicariously through their favorite player, imagine themselves as that person, and nobody wants to be the big ugly, boring (personality) guy, no matter how skilled and dominant he is.

Yep, no one wants to the big horse riding guy. Another thing is that Jokic's highlights are all passes. Fans generally acknowledge great passing but don't truly appreciate it. For instance if Kawhi makes 6 mid range jumpers in a row to close out a close playoff game, fans will remember that. But if Jokic or any other prolific passer had 6 perfect behind the back bounce passes to close out a game, they'd just be like "yea cool, nice."
He's also great scoring the ball, but is more of a Tim Duncan in terms of aesthetic appeal and flashiness. He doesn't break ankles, doesn't dunk on people, isn't on social media etc.

That said, over the years I have seen some Serbian tourists in my city and when they hit the basketball courts some of them wear Jokic jerseys.

Basketball jerseys look stupid and feel cheap. Just my opinion.

Meanwhile, I still have my Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers jersey's from the 90's because they never go out of style and the quality is 10x that of a current NBA Jersey.

Why hockey jersey's? I was the best damn mini-stick player in the school (maybe the country).

Sgt Major wrote:Serbs do not buy jerseys. In European ultras culture, wearing jerseys to games is considered something that only casual fans do, so fans are buying clothing made by their ultras groups and not jerseys and shirts from official shops of the teams. Hence, when fans are not even buying jerseys of their home teams, it is unlikely that they will ever buy jerseys of the team Jokic is playing for.

Now regarding the US market, he's obviously not that attractive to non-Nuggets fans, so I don't find this surprising at all, given the fact that Denver is a small market.

What is "European ultras culture"?

Same reason people didnt buy Tim Duncan jerseys back in the day. They bought MJ, Kobe, Carter and Iverson
Easier to relate to guards and people like flashy players

I wish we could get a bigger list of the top jersey sales for each season. All of the lists I've seen only go to top 15 at most. I'd be curious to see just how far down the list Jokic is.

To answer the question, he just hasn't been as marketable. I'd suspect some more "cool" and popular players like the Knicks Derrick Rose or even Lonzo Ball jerseys to be surprisingly higher than expected even though Jokic is the superior player.

hippesthippo wrote:Basketball jerseys look stupid and feel cheap. Just my opinion.

Meanwhile, I still have my Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers jersey's from the 90's because they never go out of style and the quality is 10x that of a current NBA Jersey.

Why hockey jersey's? I was the best damn mini-stick player in the school (maybe the country).

Sgt Major wrote:Serbs do not buy jerseys. In European ultras culture, wearing jerseys to games is considered something that only casual fans do, so fans are buying clothing made by their ultras groups and not jerseys and shirts from official shops of the teams. Hence, when fans are not even buying jerseys of their home teams, it is unlikely that they will ever buy jerseys of the team Jokic is playing for.

Now regarding the US market, he's obviously not that attractive to non-Nuggets fans, so I don't find this surprising at all, given the fact that Denver is a small market.

What is "European ultras culture"?

One thing is sure, here what matters it the team, no matter who plays. In the nba, it's who plays no matter where basically.

But its not like Serbs (and maybe greeks and other balkan countries, but that remains debatable) set up the rule for every european country. Merchandising works - nba included - fine in other countries. It kinda depends on the impact the nba has on every country here (and basketball).
If Jokic was to win a ring, that could obviously change a lot of things.

Sgt Major wrote:Serbs do not buy jerseys. In European ultras culture, wearing jerseys to games is considered something that only casual fans do, so fans are buying clothing made by their ultras groups and not jerseys and shirts from official shops of the teams. Hence, when fans are not even buying jerseys of their home teams, it is unlikely that they will ever buy jerseys of the team Jokic is playing for.

Now regarding the US market, he's obviously not that attractive to non-Nuggets fans, so I don't find this surprising at all, given the fact that Denver is a small market.

So instead of financially supporting your team, Serbian fans rather support ultras? Sounds kinda dumb to me.

European ultras culture is the culture of hardcore sports fans that has spread to casual fans too, so people rarely buy jerseys in many countries.

DaddyCool19 wrote:

Sgt Major wrote:Serbs do not buy jerseys. In European ultras culture, wearing jerseys to games is considered something that only casual fans do, so fans are buying clothing made by their ultras groups and not jerseys and shirts from official shops of the teams. Hence, when fans are not even buying jerseys of their home teams, it is unlikely that they will ever buy jerseys of the team Jokic is playing for.

Now regarding the US market, he's obviously not that attractive to non-Nuggets fans, so I don't find this surprising at all, given the fact that Denver is a small market.

So instead of financially supporting your team, Serbian fans rather support ultras? Sounds kinda dumb to me.

Yep, that's pretty much the case.

The Nuggets are a small market team with a small fanbase and little historical relevance for the league due to their lack of success. Jokic is also the antithesis of the modern NBA superstar -- he has no ego; he doesn't care about the limelight; he's indifferent to most things outside the court; his game's not flashy; he looks like a middle-aged truck driver.

If Jokic wins a ring or two with the Nugs, he'll become significantly more popular. Alternatively, he can sign with the Lakers or Knicks or proclaim that the earth is flat -- it will surely sell more jerseys.

He's top 5 in AS votes at least, but yeah these are this seasons jersey sales:

BoatsNZones wrote:He's top 5 in AS votes at least, but yeah these are this seasons jersey sales:

Read on Twitter

Wonder if this is U.S. only or not. In Australia it felt like it was literally all KD and Curry jerseys. Lol.

A country by country breakdown would be legit.

I think one of the most important things wasn't mentioned yet - he's not on social media. Probably the only one out of all the players that top that sales list.