Michael Jackson wrote:Duke4life831 wrote:Like others have said, he's basically Tim Duncan. But that gets even more magnified because of social media. Is there a bigger athlete in any sport that doesnt have any social media? That is huge, especially when you consider the amount of people who basically live their lives through social media nowadays.
So ya thats massive. Just like with shoes, its tougher for legit big men to sell this stuff. People like the highlights and stuff that perimeter players provide and they tend to buy shoes and jerseys along those lines as well.
He also does very little US media. Like I posted in a different thread of JJ Redick talking about telling Jokic he would love to have him on any time, even though he knows he wont. Jokic's reply was legit "your right I wont." Outside of press conferences and on court after game interviews, he does no media. Then also throw in he has zero TMZ/tabloid reach as well. What I mean by that is he doesnt live in LA or NY and isnt seen going out hanging with other celebrities. He isnt dating famous celebrities and so on.
He is legit when he says he cares nothing about the fame and stuff with being a NBA player. That dude just wants to be with his wife and his horses. That dont sell in today's social media/TMZ era.
Which Bigmen sold a lot of Jerseys? I think Shaq likely has to lead it and Hakeem and Clearly I think Ewing is maybe #1. As far as shoes... that craze came a little be after but Shaq has to lead the sales on that and it is a pittance of what Jordan sold of course but still minuscule compared to what Kobe sold too. I bet Marbury sold a ton more shoes than Shaq. If we go and do the numbers Dee Brown likely sold more reeboks than Shaq did all considered just for the blind dunk. That was marketing genius. of "Bigmen" I would think that maybe KG sold the most signature shoes? Just hard to market bigmen to the 5'7" dude but they can imagine they are AI or MJ when they see them on court. That being said... no one bought Earl Boykin's shoes who most people were taller than... (don't think he had shoes just making a point and almost everyone here is taller than him I would imagine)
Ya I wouldnt be shocked if Shaq topped the list, but again Shaq was just different. His personality transcended the sport. But ya even then, I dont think Shaq's shoes ever were a popular thing haha.
And we can just look at this top jersey list even not focusing on Jokic. Embiid is a top 5 player, he plays for a big market, he has a big personality and has a solid social media following (6 mil on instagram). Even with all of that, he is only 9th in jersey sales.
So ya big men in general tend to have an uphill battle when it comes to this. And when you combine that with Jokic going out of his way to not care about this stuff, ya he aint going to ever show up on these kinds of lists haha.
I know a Knicks fan and he bought a Knicks Rose jersey over all the other players they have.
