Photo by Lloyd Brown, Stadium Journey
The NBA is the second-most popular professional sports league in the United States – this is especially true online and with social media. New research from online sports betting site Casinos Sweeps attempted to determine which team was the most popular in the NBA. Researchers analyzed the number of Instagram followers each NBA team currently has; this also revealed each team’s most followed player.
It should come at no surprise that the Los Angeles Lakers were revealed as the most followed team, with a staggering 192.5 million followers on Instagram between their team accounts and those of their individual players. Their most popular player, also no surprise, was found to be future Hall of Famer LeBron James; the four-time MVP has an amazing online following of 159.5 million.
The Golden State Warriors came in second with a combined 126.5 million followers; 55.9 million of those belong to their most followed player, Steph Curry. Rounding out the top five were the Los Angeles Clippers with Russell Westbrook, the Chicago Bulls with Lonzo Ball, and the Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie Irving.
“All teams have had a significant impact on the NBA’s overall popularity, both in the US and internationally … it is fascinating to see which ones have ranked the highest,” a spokesperson from Casinos Sweeps said in a news release. “However, the popularity of each team can change dramatically with new stars, management strategies, and on-court success, so it will be interesting to see how the rankings change in future seasons.”
Image courtesy of Casino Sweeps
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